Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Berklee Professor Releases Heartfelt Hanukkah Song

15/12/2023

Berklee Professor Releases Heartfelt Hanukkah Song Mike Sempert recently released Hold On to the Light, a catchy track with a sincere message about what it means to be Jewish during the holiday season.

By

Daniel Pesquera

December 14, 2023

At this time of year, there seems to be an endless supply of Christmas songs taking over the airwaves, with new records released every season. In contrast, songs about Hanukkah, especially the non-satirical variety, are much less common and typically lack the widespread presence enjoyed by traditional holiday standards.

Enter Mike Sempert, an artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, media composer, entrepreneur, and assistant professor of songwriting who teaches both at the Boston campus and Berklee Online. Sempert took on the challenge of writing a sincere song about Hanukkah, and his efforts culminated with the recent release of Hold On to the Light, a warm, catchy tune that borrows from '70s rock to deliver a heartfelt message about what it means to be Jewish during Hanukkah. What started out as a bonus track for Sempert ended up becoming a song that he hopes will offer a genuine perspective on what matters during the holidays that resonates with listeners of all beliefs.

In addition to his role as a Berklee educator, Sempert runs the commercial music company West Channel and is currently wrapping up a film score for an independent action film. His music has been performed at the Guggenheim Museum, the San Francisco Jazz Center, and the Rathaus in Vienna, among many other venues, and his film scores include the award-winning indie films Summoning the Spirit, A Room Full of Nothing, and Homestate. We caught up with him to take a deeper dive into Hold On to the Light and the important message behind the endearing song.

Tell us about what inspired you to write Hold On to the Light. Was writing a Hanukkah song something you set out to do or did it come together more spontaneously?Dan Kaplowitz from Friendly Fire Licensing (a sync house based in LA) is an old friend and encouraged me to try writing a Hanukkah song for sync. Theres not a lot of sincere Hanukkah songs out there! It turned into something Im really proud of and feel connected to in an authentic way. Even if I never license it, its a song that I believe will outlive me and feels very meaningful. The lesson is: something positive always comes from creating new music.

You're a father, and you describe your music as dad rock. What are some of the elements of your music and this song in particular that embody the distinctive dad rock vibe?I dont generally think of all my music as dad rock, but Ive got some songs that are heavily influenced by that era of vintage soft rock and this song in particular certainly is. Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty collaborations such as Full Moon Fever and Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 are big influences on this track. The synth solo is very influenced by Steve Winwoods approach to synth leads. I called it dad rock to be a bit self-deprecating, but deep down I honestly love this sound.

The song's lyrics confront the idea of feeling inadequate or inauthentic when it comes to knowing about your faith and specific holiday traditions. Why is this theme important to you, and what message do you hope others may take away from it?Its important for readers who dont know a lot about Judaism to understand that someone doesnt have to be religious to be Jewish-there are cultural and ethnic components to Jewish identity that are really important and sometimes exist independently of each other. So theres a lot of ways to be Jewish; theres no one right way. I think a lot of secular Jews and even Jews who were raised religious but dont actively practice have this fear that were doing it wrong. The funny thing about this is, I think this kind of anxiety exists around other holidays too-for everyone! For example, Christmas can drive people crazy trying to make it perfect. Is the turkey too dry? I think this all comes from some similar place inside of us that can hinder our enjoyment of the holidays, which should just be about being together.

How challenging was it to write a holiday song that you felt would resonate and feel relevant for current times, particularly a Hanukkah song? Theres a great compilation called Hanukkah+, but theres nothing out there with this particular '70s soft-rock vibe on there. So the lack of precedent kind of helped, to be honest, and writing the song came easily. And I didnt feel like I had to worry about it being too this or too that; it was just a bonus song. I try to encourage all of my students to think of their songwriting in this way if possible. The bonus songs are written from a place of freedom, they arent necessary, they dont define your value as an artist or a person, theyre just for fun (omg what?), and they tend to be the best songs you write.

Will we see more holiday songs from you in the future? Perhaps an entire album?Maybe so! Ive written a couple of Christmas songs too, which is a very Jewish thing in its own way. Type Christmas songs written by Jews into Google and youll see what I mean.

Listen to Mike Semperts Hold On to the Light:

Related Categories

Keyed In

News

Most Popular

15 of the Best Cover Songs (and Why They Work) From Fast Car to Ring of Fire, there's no formula to making a successful cover song. But the best covers answer two important questions.

Latest

Francesco Castro B.M. '21 (left) and Matilde Heckler B.M. '23 (first from right) at the Mean Girls red carpet event

Image courtesy of Matilde Heckler

Alums Make Big-Screen Debut in Musical Adaptation of Mean Girls Francesca Castro and Matilde Heckler bring Band Freak energy to the cinematic version of Tina Feys 2018 Broadway production.

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Celebrates Black History Month Th
LINK: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/berklee-professor-releases-he...
See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

16/06/2026

Thomson launches new learning App

Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App. Available now on Google Play Store, the J...

16/06/2026

Neumann MT 48 Receives Major Firmware 2.0 Update

Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...

16/06/2026

TVNewsCheck Opens Nominations for 2027 Women in Technology Awards

TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...

16/06/2026

Clear-Com Introduces Avalon IP Intercom Platform

Clear-Com has announced Avalon, a 1RU IP intercom platform for broadcast, live events, and production environments. Designed for IP-only workflows, Avalon suppo...

16/06/2026

SNS EVO Enables Remote and Distributed Video Editing Workflows

SNS has published a guide to remote video editing workflows using its EVO shared storage platform and companion tools, covering use cases ranging from home edit...

16/06/2026

Richmond Flying Squirrels Deploy Grass Valley LDX 110 Cameras at CarMax Park

Grass Valley has announced that the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, have deployed five Grass Valley LD...

16/06/2026

AIMS Launches Free Official IPMX Training Series Online

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced the launch of the Official IPMX Training Series, a free online program covering the design, configurati...

16/06/2026

Swerve Womens Sports Announces Distribution Deals with Fubo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV, and Anoki AI

Swerve TV has announced distribution agreements with Fubo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV,...

16/06/2026

ATP and TikTok Expand Global Content Partnership

ATP and TikTok have announced an expansion of their global content partnership, extending the ATP's TikTok hub powered by TikTok GamePlan to cover all nine ...

16/06/2026

FOX Sports Turns Los Angeles Pico Lot Into Its FIFA World Cup Production Nerve Center

Network's LA facility serves as the heart of a sprawling operation built to ...

16/06/2026

300+ Records a Day, 150 TB Daily, and a Relentless Content Avalanche: Inside FOX Sports' World Cup Media Engine

At Pico, the network's media-management team is supporting a flood of HBS fe...

16/06/2026

NHL Games Leaving CBC in Canada as Sublicense With Rogers Sportsnet Ends

The NHL will no longer air on CBC after the pulic broadcasters and national rights-holder Rogers Sportsnet were unable to come to agreement. After a successfu...

16/06/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Virtual Eye's Ben Taylor on Making Live Sports More Valuable and Entertaining Through Data-Driven Graphics

As live sports broadcasters continue to seek new ways to make complex action mor...

16/06/2026

Thats BRISK, Baby! FOX Sports' Broadcast Remote IP Studio Kits Bring World Cup Fan Energy Back to Pico

Built with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mind, these small but mighty IP-based tran...

16/06/2026

Rumble three-band soft synth by UVI

Boasts individual synths for each band UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each operate...

16/06/2026

PSP Levelizer: auto level adjustment plug-in from PSPaudioware

New intelligent auto-fader plug-in unveiled PSPaudioware's latest release offers automatic level adjustment and provides more detailed control than many...

16/06/2026

The Crow Hill Company launch Crystal Pads

New performance-focused library announced Crystal Pads is the latest addition to The Crow Hill Company's ever-growing product range, and according to th...

16/06/2026

GForce launch official Prophet-5 soft synth

Developed in partnership with Sequential In recent years, GForce Software have branched into official emulations of classic hardware synths, delivering a ha...

16/06/2026

DT 30 IE: New in-ears from beyerdynamic

Designed specifically for live performance monitoring beyerdynamic's latest announcement sees the company introduce an affordable in-ear monitoring syst...

16/06/2026

Cherry Audio recreate the Ensoniq ESQ-1

Official emulation celebrates iconic synth's 40th anniversary Cherry Audio have just introduced Ensoniq ESQ-1, an official recreation of the 1986 polyph...

16/06/2026

Australians place growing trust in SBS News

Australians place growing trust in SBS News 16 June, 2026 Media releases SBS has been recognised as one of Australia's most trusted news providers, ran...

16/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz achieves highest number of GCF validated 3GPP NR NTN test cases for RF, RRM and PCT domains

Rohde & Schwarz achieves highest number of GCF validated 3GPP NR NTN test cases ...

16/06/2026

Hitachi and PESA Announce Strategic Partnership to Drive Growth in Poland's Rail Market

Bydgoszcz to Become a Local Centre of Excellence for Advanced Rail Technologies....

16/06/2026

Chyron Unveils Chyron Weather 2.4

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/06/2026

Historic Zhuque-3 Reusable Rocket Test Mission Captured with URSA Cine Immersive

Historic Zhuque-3 Reusable Rocket Test Mission Captured with URSA Cine Immersive Brie Clayton June 16, 2026 0 Comments Apple Immersive Video puts view...

16/06/2026

SMPTE Plans ST 2110 Education Summer Programs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/06/2026

Rise Awards Returns for 2026 to Celebrate Excellence in B...

Rise WIB, the award-winning advocacy group championing gender diversity and career progression across the broadcast and media technology industry, today announc...

16/06/2026

Limecraft Expands its Media Production Platform with Team...

Limecraft today announced the availability of Limecraft 2026.4, the fourth of eight planned platform releases this year. The update introduces Team-Based Access...

16/06/2026

Perry Sook: Big Tech Poses 'Very Urgent Threat to Broadcast Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/06/2026

FIFA World Cup Delivers Record Ratings on Fox

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/06/2026

AIMS Launches the Official IPMX Training Series Online

Free Program Supports IPMX Education from Foundational Concepts Through System and Network Design The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced t...

16/06/2026

Share your views on Screen Australia and the future of the industry

Share your views on Screen Australia and the future of the industry 15 June 2026 Your feedback matters. Following the instrumental insights provided in 2025,...

16/06/2026

Techtel Supports T-Motion RCCP-2A Controller Upgrade for Major Australian Broadcaster

Techtel Supports T-Motion RCCP-2A Controller Upgrade for Major Australian Broadc...

16/06/2026

Record audiences tune in for opening weekend of ICC Womens T20 World Cup 2026 on Sky Sports

Tuesday 16 June 2026 Record audiences tune in for opening weekend of ICC Women&...

16/06/2026

Fastest, Largest, Strongest: NVIDIA Blackwell Sweeps MLPerf Training 6.0

Every breakthrough AI model starts the same way: with a training run. The infrastructure running those training jobs shapes everything: how fast teams can itera...

15/06/2026

University of South Carolina's Valerie Gerfin on Gamecock Productions' Growth, Upgrades at Williams-Brice Stadium

One of the more exciting internal video production divisions within a college at...

15/06/2026

Fox Corp. To Acquire Roku, Pairs Live Sports Powerhouse With Major CTV Platform

The deal valued at $22 Billion is expected to close in the first half of 2027...

15/06/2026

Golf Channel Mobile to Live Stream 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup Beginning July 13th

Golf Channel and the Arnold Palmer Cup have announced a partnership to livestream the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup on Golf Channel Mobile and GolfChannel.com. The tou...

15/06/2026

TikTok and Panini Launch Digital Collectible Card Experience for FIFA World Cup 2026

TikTok and Panini have announced a partnership to bring a digital collectible ca...

15/06/2026

Cosm and Monster Energy Launch First Full-Dome Immersive Advertisement in Shared Reality Venues

Cosm and Monster Energy have announced the debut of the first full-dome immersiv...

15/06/2026

Fox Nation and Real American Freestyle Sign International Media Rights Deal

Real American Freestyle (RAF) and Fox Nation have announced an exclusive streaming agreement for three RAF international events, beginning with RAF Georgia on J...

15/06/2026

FanConnect and Extreme Networks Announce IPTV Integration for Large Venue Deployments

FanConnect has announced a partnership with Extreme Networks integrating FanConn...

15/06/2026

2026 Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellows Named

Ten Emerging Filmmakers Ages 18 to 25 Will Start Fellowship Year at Ignite Lab from June 14-19 LOS ANGELES, CA, June 15, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institut...

15/06/2026

Rumble from UVI

Innovative three-band soft synth introduced UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each op...

15/06/2026

Oram Awards 2026: Open call announcement

Applications now open for 2026 The Oram Awards have returned for 2026 to celebrate the unusual, unique and unfiltered creative worlds of women and gender-di...