Monthly Archives: April 2016

Levy, Judith

Canadian. nee Chertkow. “Operatically trained in Canada and England, Judith infuses cantorial music with the performance quality of classical Art Songs. With a Sephardic mother and Ashkenazi father, Judith grew up steeped in both Mediterranean and Eastern European Jewish culture and music as well as orthodox religious training.” She has a CDBaby listing for Threads of Blue. The album is “a recording of eighteen songs that weave together aspects of Jewish religion, languages, culture and traditions, touching milestones in the Jewish religious calendar and life cycle; Sabbath and High Holidays; love, marriage, birth, death; folk, liturgical and art songs in the hybrid Jewish tongues of Yiddish and Ladino as well as traditional Hebrew.”
http://cdbaby.com/cd/judithlevy

Lichtenberg, Lenka

Yiddish singer living in Canada, Lenka has been involved with Yiddish music for years. Her arrangements are really quite unusual and satisfying. Lenka was raised in Prague, and her musical training included theater work and vocal training at the Prague Conservatory. Her album “Deep Inside,” which has received excellent reviews, is featured on the website. Many of the “lyrics deal with ‘Jewish’ topics: misunderstandings between observant/less observant Jews, the role of Yiddish, finding one’s Jewish identity, and issues from Israel.” Her Latest CD is “Peace Offerings.”
http://www.lenkalichtenberg.com/home.html

Levine, Michele

American. Vocalist. Pianist. Began as a teenager in the Catskills. Studied with Yiddish singer Martha Schlamme. Attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Also co-authored a book, “My Father’s Story: A Child’s Introduction to the Holocaust.” Michele started out as a lawyer and practiced as an Assistant DA in NYC and Cambridge. Later she returned to her love of music, founding The Klezmer Connection, a simcha band, in 1996.

Leverett, Margot

Clarinetist. Klezmer musician. Born Toledo, Ohio, 1958. Bachelor from Indiana University in Music and Philosophy. Studied klezmer music with Sid Beckerman. Helped found the Klezmatics in 1985. Performed with Joel Gray in the Borshtcapades, Theodore Bikel in Greeetings from Sholem Aleichem, with Klezmer Conservatory Band in Schlemiel the First and with Joshua Bell in The Red Violinsoundtrack. Helped found the Klezmer Mountain Boys interweaving klezmer and bluegrass. Currently resides in Astoria, New York. Ms. Leverett says of becoming involved in klezmer music: “Klezmer originally appealed to me because it’s great clarinet music, with a history of amazing clarinetists playing it. But I soon found it to be the music that resonates most truthfully for me. Classical music was too confining for me–I love to improvise, and klezmer is my soul music.” Her CD is “The Art of Klezmer Clarinet” (Traditional Crossroads).…
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Boyd Leon, Carol

American. Composer, songleader, cantorial soloist, choir director and music educator. Born and grew up in Baldwin, NY, graduated from Brown University, and has resided in Northern Virgiinia since 1977. Her music is “characterized by its lovely and singable melodies; her focus is on creating music for congregational and school use.” Ms. Leon is the current and founding director of several Jewish youth and adult choirs in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, coordinates Northern Virginia’s annual Jewish choral festival called “NoVaShir,” and teaches and leads Jewish music at several area schools and synagogues. Her works include “Family Shabbat” (with CD, 2000), “Jewish Life Cycle” (2002), “Gan Shirim: 70 New Jewish Songs for Children” (with double-CD, published by KTAV Publshing House in 2004), and “A Healing Service In Song” (DVD, 2005).…
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Lederman, Minna

Musicologist. Editor. Wrote, Stravinsky in the Theatre. Editor of Modern Music, “one of the most important magazines in the contemporary music world in the mid-20th century. Lederman featured Copland and his writings in Modern Music.” (from: http://www.music.mpr.org/features/0011_copland/figures.shtml). For many years she edited Copland’s writings. She also wrote The Life and Death of a Small Magazine (Modern Music, 1924-1945), 1983.

Lann, Vanessa

American. Composer. b. Brooklyn, New York, April 6, 1968. Pianist since the age of five. “Studied composition with Ruth Schonthal at the Westchester Conservatory of Music, where she received the William Petchek Scholarship. For two summers she was a scholarship student at the Tanglewood Institute. She was graduated summa cum laude from the music department of Harvard University, where her teachers included Earl Kim, Leon Kirchner and Peter Lieberson. Lann won the New York Music Teachers Association ‘Herbert Zipper Prize,’ the New York Musicians Club ‘Bohemians Prize’ and the Harvard University ‘Hugh F. MacColl Prize.’ She directed the Harvard Group For New Music and was co-founder of the Harvard Group For Gender Studies In Music. She also produced and announced radio feature programs (WHRB, Cambridge) and worked as music director for productions at the American Repertory Theater.…
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Landowska, Wanda

Born July 5, 1879, Warsaw, Poland. Died August 16, 1959, Lakeville, Connecticut. Harpsichordist, pianist, musicologist, composer. Specialist in 17th and 18th century keyboard music, (“old music”), especially using “authentic” instruments. She turned to using the harpsichord and wrote numerous articles promoting its use. Married Henri Lew in 1900, who died in 1919. Toured and taught harpsichord extensively. Contemporary composers began to write pieces for the harpsichord and this helped spark a revival of the instrument. During WWII, she migrated to the US in 1941. Landowska also composed works on Jewish themes.

Lamble, Judi

Judi Lamble composes Jewish vocal, and especially choral, including a cappella choruses, soloists, and duets, with music based on liturgical and scriptural texts. Her compositions are classically-oriented, with contemporary or ethnic energy. Having sung with the Chicago Symphony Chorus for 8 years, she writes music with a special sensitivity to the vocalists she serves. Her compositions are regularly performed by the Temple Israel congregational choir in Minneapolis, MN. Her website has contact information for obtaining scores, and samples of her music. Lamble’s music can be appropriate for groups with varying degrees of sophistication. For more information about difficulty of pieces, contact the composer. Some of the religious texts she uses follow the Reform liturgy. She also includes links to other composer’s sites.
www.jewishvocalmusic.com…
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Kremer, Isa

Born in Beltz, Bessarabia. 21 October 1887. Died Cordoba, Argentia, 7 July 1956. Possibly the first women to bring Yiddish song to the concert stage in Russia, was known as an international balladist. Married Israel Heifetz and had one daughter, Toussia, 1917. Yiddish singer and opera star. She studied in Italy, and came to US. Operatic debut in La Boheme in 1902. Joined a group of intellectuals in Odessa with her husand and began to sing Yiddish songs. Due to the Russian revolution, escaped to Poland and then to America. Represented by Sol Hurok for her American debut at Carnegie Hall 29 October, 1922. Sang also in vaudeville Palace Theatre debut in 1927. “Mein Shtetle Belz” was written for her by Olshanetsky and Jacobs for the show “Song of the Ghetto.” Traveled throughout Canada and US on concert tours.…
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Kramer, Miriam

Born in Connecticut. Violinist. Lives in Great Britain. Named United Kingdom’s Jewish Performer of the Year 1995. Her grandfather was a Cantor and two of her uncles were concert violinists. Graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Performers Certificate for Exceptional Young Artists. Studied violin with Charles Castleman and chamber music with Zvi Zeitlin. Studied with Yfrah Neaman on the Advanced Solo Studies Course at the Guildhall School. Won the National Federation of Music Clubs First Prize, the Stillman Kelley Prize and the Artists International Young Artist award. In November 1999, her disc of the music of Josef Achron was released. In her latest CD, Miriam and British pianist Nicholas Durcan have recorded for Naxos the violin and piano music of the great 20th century Polish composer Karol Szymanowski.…
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Koskoff, Ellen

Ethnomusicologist. Born 1943. Known for her studies of music in Hasidic life, spending some twenty years researching hasidic women and the role of music in their lives, as written in her book Music in Lubavitcher Life (2001). Professor of Ethnomusicology and Director, World Music Certificate and Ethnomusicology Diploma Program at Eastman School of Music the University of Rochester. BM, Boston University; MA, Columbia; PhD, University of Pittsburgh. Music in Lubavitcher Life, 2000, winner of ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music Scholarship 2001. Editor, Music Cultures in the United States, 2004. Ethnomusicology advisor for The New Amerigroves. General editor, Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Vol. 3: United States and Canada. Editor and contributor, Women and Music in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Publications in Ethnomusicology, Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Yearbook, Worlds of Music, and The Journal of Women and Music.…
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Kornberg, Mindy S.

Born in Brooklyn, 1955, living in Jerusalem, Israel since 1978. Wrote the music and English lyrics for all the songs in the CD “Music from the Mountain: a Jewish Holiday Jam with the Soultune Singers”. (2000) which utilizes sounds of American country, klezmer, jazz, reggae and other styles. Available at www.cdbaby.com/soultune. 1st prize winner of the 5th AACI English Song Festival held in Jerusalem for her song “How do you get to Carnegie Hall (or who the heck is Gerard Bechar?)”. She won 3rd prize for song “Echoes of Memories” which was performed by Judith Paul Litov and Rachel Jaskow at the 4th AACI Festival held in Beersheva. At the 2001 Voices (English poets in Israel) Song Competition her song “Daughter Voices” won first prize (accompanied by Rachel Jaskow, Judith Litov and Naomi Attias).…
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Komrad, Kimberly

American Cantor. Vocal training in classical opera, University of Miami. Studied in Midreshet Yerushalayim in 1989. Master of Sacred Music and Diploma of Hazzan from the Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1994. Currently works in Kehilat Shalom, in Montgomery County, MD. First cantor in Conservative pulpit in Baltimore. Featured as one of twelve “leading cantors of our time” in Chicago in 1997 at the Cantors Assembly. Executive Council of the Cantors Assembly from 2000-2002. Chair of the Cantors Assembly Seaboard Region since 1995. Website and CDs of music: Voice of the Lioness and also now working with Hazzan Emanuel Perlman, of Chizuk Amuno Congregation, in Baltimore, MD, as “Manny and Kim” with first CD, “Love is All Around,” released in 2002.

Koen-Sarano, Mathilda

Israeli folklorist and ethnomusicologist, teacher and preserver of Ladino language and culture. Born, Milan, Italy, 1939 to a Sephardic family. Her mother Diana Hadjes and father Alfredo were from Aydin, Turkey. She studied at the Jewish Community School and the University in Milan. Married Aharon Cohen, now the Director General of The National Authority for Ladino and its Culture, in 1960. She received a B.A. in Italian Literature, Judeo-Spanish and Folklore in 1987 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 1974-1994 made a living as a records specialist at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. Since 1996 has been on the faculty of Ben Gurion University in the Negev as a Judeo-Spanish language instructor, and also teaches at Midreshet Amalia Jerusalem (since 1991). Since 1998 she has taught a course for Ladino Teachers, organized by The National Authority for Ladino and its Culture, in Jerusalem.…
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Kleiner, Fran

American. Yiddish singer and music teacher. Born, Brooklyn, NY. Fran studied at Hebrew School of the Hebrew Educational Society, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. She received a BA degree in Education and Psychology from Brooklyn College in June 1947, and a Masters in Social Work from Boston University in May l953. She married Robert Kleiner in 1948. Fran started teaching Yiddish songs in camp settings. In the early 1950s, she worked for a time at Camp Kingswood, but moved to the Philadelphia area in 1953. Fran has been singing Yiddish songs for young and old alike, and has spent over 30 years teaching Yiddish, Hebrew, Jewish and folk music to students in Philadelphia. Fran’s website includes a bio, concert schedules and contact info.
http://www.franmusic.com/
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Klein, Betty

American-born, Israeli singer, guitarist, pianist harpist, accordionist and music therapist. She studied with Martha Schlamme at Mannes College, graduated with a BS from Boston University, MS from Columbia University and continued studies at Hunter College and Montclair State College. She performed throughout the New York area until moving to Israel. She participated in the Akko Music Festival, Folk Festival at Horshat Tal and the Llangollen Eisteddfod, Wales in 1990 where she won 2nd prize in the solo folk singing competition. Ms. Klein has appeared on the BBC, Belgian TV and radio programs and on Israeli TV and radio. Her Ladino and Yiddish concerts have been broadcast as well as recorded in albums. She has performed extensively in Europe in both Jewish and general venues, including festivals, universities, and the Vatican.…
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Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara

Professor of Judaic Studies and Performance Studies at New York University, Dr. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett researches performance practice and has published on klezmer music and other topics of Jewish culture, as well as general American culture, aesthetics of everyday life, cookery and performance, “ethnography, world’s fairs, museum, theater and tourist productions.” From 1988 to 1992, she was President of the American Folklore Society. In 2001, she was at University of Pennsylvania as a fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies. She wrote such books as: Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage(1998) and Image Before My Eyes: A Photographic History of Jewish Life in Poland, 1864-1939 (1977) with Lucjan Dobroszycki.

Kaye, Ruth

Musical theatrical actress and mezzo-soprano. Native of New Jersey. Tours widely in two one-woman shows “My Grandmother, My Mother and Me”, which includes Jewish material, including Yiddish and Hebrew songs, and in “Broadway’s Fabulous Females”. She has often had roles in off-Broadway productions. Her website includes information about recent bookings and reviews.
http://www.ruthkaye.com/main2.html

Katz, Ruth

Israeli. Musicologist. Professor Emeritus of Musicology, The Hebrew University. Author with Dalia Cohen ofPalestinian Arab Music: A Maqam Tradition in Practice. This project “presents the results of a major research effort to determine the parameters of the stylistic variability of Arab folk music in Israel.” She is also author of The Lachmann Problem: An Unsung Chapter in Comparative Musicology and many other books and articles over a long career. She also completed, along with Carl Dahlhaus, a four volume series Contemplating Music: Source Readings in the Aesthetics of Music for Pendragon Press– Vol. I: Substance (1987); Vol. II: Import (1989); Vol. III: Essence (1992) and Vol. IV: Community of Discourse (1994). “Her research interest include stylistic vs. paradigmatic change in the history of music; aesthetics of music and other arts; non-European musical traditions; musicological and ethno-musicological methods; theory and history of notation and music and cognition.”…
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Karzen, Judith H.

American. Conductor. Singing coach. Pianist. Teacher. BM from Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University. MA in Choral conducting from DePaul University. Studied at Anshe Emet synagogue with Hazzan Moses J. Silverman. 1962-1997, served as Director of Music at Temple Beth Israel. 1984 to present, Artistic Director/Administrator of halevi Choral Society, the only proefessional ensemble in US devoted exclusively to Jewish choral repertoire. Founding member of the Guild of Temple Musicians, serving as President. Founder of the Guild Newsletter and editor for 11 years. Wrote monthly column for American organist Magazine. Selected jewish Chicagoan of the Year, 1996. Fellowship, Illinois Arts Council, 1999. Taught Jewish music for board of Jewish Education Music Institute; lectured at DePaul and Northwestern University; presented numerous lectures, workshops and seminars. Presented special concerts honoring major Jewish and Israeli musicians.…
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Kammen, Shira

American. Vielle player. Born in 1961, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Degree in music from UC Berkeley. Studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. Member for many years of Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, and has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, and the King s Noyse. She has performed and taught in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, Morocco and Japan. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and performs now with several new groups, including the medieval ensemble Fortune s Wheel, the new music group Ephemeros, the world music cover band Panacea, and also Trouz Bras, a band devoted to the dance music of Celtic Brittany. She is also the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips, and has performed and taught on the Colorado and Rogue rivers.…
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Kam, Rachel

Violist. Born in Haifa, Israel. Studied viola with Zvi Rotenberg and Oeden Partos. Master degree, University of California, San Diego, 1973. Joined San Diego Symphony and La Jolla Chamber Orchestra. Joined Israel Chamber Ensemble in 1975 and Israel Philharmonic, 1978. Member, Tel Aviv String Quartet and Israel Piano Trio. Teaches in the KeyNote program of Israel Philharmonic. Frequently appears in IPO ensembles.

Kadar, Judy

Harpist. Specializes in the history of the harp. Judy Kadar was born in New York and attended the High School of Music and the Arts. She received the B.A. in Psychology and Music at New York University. She studied harp with Lucille Lawrence at the Mannes College of Music and the masters at Sarah Lawrence College. She has lived in Berlin, Germany since 1979. In 1984, she helped establish the Historical Harp Conference in conjunction with Amherst (MA) Early Music, serving as the first director. She’s continued to be active in organizations for historical harp playing and plays harps from concert harps to Psalter to Spanish baroque harp. She plays music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance as well as Yiddish and Jewish pieces. She also plays modern Jewish music.…
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Anne Joseph, Robin

American. Cantorial soloist. Songwriter. Robin has performed and recorded her original music as one half of the duo B’shert and now solo, with the release of her recording “Ta’amod–Stand Up!” Winner of the American Zionist Movement’s First Annual Song Competition in 1994, Robin’s unique style of storytelling through song, MidraShir, has been acclaimed nationwide. Robin’s liturgical compositions have been sung in synagogues across the United States and her Adonai Mah Adam was recently published through Transcontinental Music Publications. Ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion, Robin is the cantor at Temple Beth Shalom in Hastings-in-Hudson, NY.
www.robinannejoseph.com

Jonas, Marcie

American. Camp songleader and cantorial soloist. CD “Timeless”. Her website states: “Marcie earned her BA in Speech Communication from Ithaca College and her MA in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She has also studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel and at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Marcie has been playing guitar for over 30 years.”
http://www.marciemusic.com/

Sharon, Rahel Jaskow

American-born Israeli. Born Manhattan, April 22, 1965. Lived in the Bronx until age seven. Moved with her family to Monroe, N.Y. where there were very few Jews. She learned her first Sabbath songs at Cejwin Camps in Port Jervis, NY. Minny Genny was her first piano teacher and she studied technique and memory with her. In High School she added voice to her violin studies. She continued to study voice at the University of Rochester majoring in English, and graduating 1986. In Dec, 1991 she made Aliyah to Israel study Hebrew and working with women singing in Katamon and serving as a translator. She met Margalit Jakob and started singing with her, getting involved in the local folk community. She sang backup vocals on a CD by Ofar Golany in 2000 in memory of his father, and subsequently appeared on some tracks of Hanna Yaffe’s Lullabies from Jerusalem.…
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Jacobi, Irene C.

American. Pianist. Born September 7, 1890 in New York. Died May 25, 1984. Daughter of Max M. and Emma I. Schwarcz. Attended Institute of Musical Art (which later became the Julliard School of Music). Married the composer, Frederick Jacobi, Jr. (1891-1952) on May 29, 1917. SErved on the Music committee of the People’s Music League along with her husband. Active in the New York Committee for Young Audiences and was a fellow of the Morgan Library. Irene Jacobi was a tireless promoter of her husband’s music. She concertized in the US and Europe as a pianist, often performing her husband’s works. According to her Obit in NYT May 30, 1984, she organized a concert of her husband’s works at Carnegie Hall in 1972, (at age 82) and died at age 93.…
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Ahuvat-El (Ohevet-El) Iron, Miriam

Israeli. Jerusalemite singer and song-writer, the descendant of a Hassidic family from Karlin who arrived from White Russia to Israel as early as 1846. She has published a CD, Hassidic Shabbath Songs and Nigunim of Karlin.Many of these Chasidic tunes were, according to tradition, “passed down through the generations, from the time of the great Hassidic Rebe, Reb Araleh Hagadol of Karlin, who was part of the circle of the Baal Shem Tov.” Miriam has also published a CD of her songs “Miriam Ahuvatel sings Psalms”, which appeared at the Shalshelet competition. “Ways of Peace” is another CD. Miriam has put her CDs for sale on CD baby http://cdbaby.com/cd/miriamae.Miriam’s CDs dress the melodies in some modern garb, including jazz and modern musical elements. Miriam has a very pleasant voice which I like very much, and the songs are all well done.…
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Hirschhorn, Natasha (Jitomirskaia)

“Cantor Natasha (Jitomirskaia) Hirschhorn first became interested in Jewish music during her studies at the Gnesin Music College in Moscow. After graduating from college with Honors Diploma in musicology, piano and composition, she continued her education at the Kiev State Conservatory. Deepening her involvement in Judaism, Natasha also collaborated with the Kiev Jewish Youth Musical Theater as pianist, singer, and, later, its music director. The success of their four-women-show performances throughout Ukraine was embittered by the hostility both from the anti-Semitic Ukrainian authorities and the ultra-Orthodox rabbis. In 1992 Natasha’s quest for a more comprehensive Jewish education has brought her to Washington, D.C., where for three years she studied privately with cantors and rabbis from the area, including Cantors Sue Roemerand Sharon Steinberg. In May 1999 Natasha has completed her studies at the Academy for Jewish Religion, the only non-denominational Rabbinic and Cantorial Seminary, and was ordained as Hazzan and Teacher in Israel.…
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Hirshhorn, Linda

Vocalist, Cantor and composer. Founder and director of jazz a cappella ensemble “Vocolot” , a California Arts Council Touring Artist group. Active primarily in the Western United States. Her discography includes “Marcia Falks Blessings in Song” with Fran Avni,”Heart Beat” (2002), “Behold” (1997), “Roots and Wings” (1992), “Gather Round” (also songbook)(1989), “Skies Ablaze”, and “More than Luck and a Prayer”. Works at the Conservative congregation Temple Beth Shalom, San Leandro, CA as a cantor since 1988. Directed first Jewish Women’s International Chorus in Kiev (1994). Hirshhorn has also written songs that became part of a UAHC social justice recording, including “Circle Chant” and “Homeless Blues”.
Linda Hirshhorn webpage

Jill Higgins, Andrea

American. Nee Andrea Jill Gersten. Pianist, composer, teacher, director. Born, Manhattan. Grew up in White Plains, NY. Graduated, B.A. in Composition from Mills College (1963), where she studied under the mentorship of Darius Milhaud; harmony and counterpoint with composer-performer, Morton Subotnick; and keyboard performance with Russian concert pianists Alexander Leibermann and Bernard Abramowitch. Jill was employed as a Faculty Associate at Lyric Opera Theatre in the Music Department at Arizona State University from 1969 to 1974, during which time she pursued graduate studies and earned a Master of Music Degree in Musical Theatre Direction. From 1975 to 1977, she was employed as a Visiting Faculty member in the Music Department at Scottsdale Community College where she taught a variety of music courses, and directed several musicals.…
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Hess, Myra

Born, February 25, 1890, near London where she died, November 25, 1965. Classical pianist. Educated at Royal Academy, graduating 1907. Appeared as soloist with Concertgebouw Orchestra as early as 1912, which started her intense career. During WWII, instituted concerts at London’s National Gallery and other public service work, for which she was honored with title Dame.

Hasofer, Devorah

Australian. Singer/songwriter. Performs in Australia and Israel. Devorah made aliyah to Israel with her husband and children in the summer of 1998. Four albums, with a synthesis of modern styles blended with a Chassidic feel. She sings her original compositions. She explore lots of issues, religious and other values in a personal kind of way. She performs for all age groups and backgrounds. Devorah’s CD music, created for women and girls, is labeled simply, Devorah I, II, III and IV.
http://devorah-hasofer.com/

Hartman, Miriam

American-born violist. Studied with Max Aronoff in Philadelphia. Graduated Yale University, (B.A.),studying with Raphael Hillyer; Juilliard (M.M.), with Paul Doktor. Emmigrated to Israel, 1983. Appeared as soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra which she joined in 1984. Chamber music performer. Participates in “Mafteach,” a Tel Aviv educational program. Performs internationally, including chamber music festivals such as the Marlboro Festival.

Hamon, Beth

American. Singer, songwriter, educator. mechanic. Born, Brooklyn, New York. Grew up Portland, Oregon. Graduate of Portland State University. Plays guitar, recorder, trumpet. Formerly worked as a music specialist for children in the Portland area, now her primary occupation is as a bicycle mechanic and bicycle transportation advocate/activist in Portland, Oregon. Continues to serve a local congregation as a music-leader. Her CD “City of Love” was released in 2003 and can be purchased at www.cdbaby.com .

Hadad, Sarit

Israeli popular singer. b. Hadera September 20,1978. nee Sara Hodedtov to a family of musically talented brothers and sisters. Originally she played classical piano by ear without knowing how to read music. During her early teens, she cultivated learning several instruments, including organ, drums, guitar, darbuka and accordian. She entered the Hadera Youth band in high school, and through that met her current agent, who convinced her parents to cultivate her talents in music. Since 1995 she has made 10 albums, many of which have hit “platinum” sales in Israel and beyond. Her singing of “Light a candle”, written by Yoav Ginai and Svika Pick was chosen to represent Israel to the Eurovision contest in 2002. Her album “Ashlayot Metukot” was a triple platinum winner, and “Like Cinderella” reached quadruple platinum sales.…
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HaCohen, Ruth (Pinczower)

Israeli. Musicologist. Studied Musicology and Jewish Thought at Hebrew University, 1976-1991 Doctor of Philosophy, 1992 summa cum laude; Master of Arts 1985 summa cum laude Bachelor of Arts, 1980 (major also in Jewish Philosophy). Hebrew University, lecturer 1992-2000. Senior Lecturer 2000- to the present. Member of the Board of the Israeli Musicological Society 1992-4. Visiting Scholar, St. John s College, Oxford 1996-7. Chair of the Department of Musicology, the Hebrew University 2001-2004 Her published books include: Tuning the Mind: Connecting Aesthetic Theory to Cognitive Science, New Brunswick: NJ: Transaction 2002 (with Ruth Katz); The Arts in Mind: Pioneering Texts of a Coterie of British Men of Letters, New Brunswick: NJ: Transaction 2002 (with Ruth Katz);Arnold Schönbergs Kol Nidre: Versuch einer Begriffsbestimmung jüdischer Ästhetik in der Moderne, Schriftenreihe Ha’Atelier Collegium Berlin Heft 5:2002.…
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Guthrie, Joy Katzen

A cantorial soloist and performer in Florida for over 18 years, Ms. Guthrie concertizes widely and has seven recordings. She writes many original works which are included in her CD’s. “Her concerts include liturgical music of the Jewish Kabbalists, Israeli and Yiddish folk tunes, musical stage and film works, and original songs, all of which she uniquely weaves together with history, storytelling, and song.” Her website is up-to-date and inclusive of booking and travel information, as well as a bio and CD’s, including some lyrics to her albums.
http://www.joyfulnoise.net/Joy.html

Greenstein, Robin

American singer-songwriter from NYC, doing secular, folk, original and Jewish music. She performs and sings in English, Ladino and Yiddish. Robin received a 18 month grant to do music research on Sephardic music from the federal government nearly 25 years ago, and collected Sephardic music from various informants at the Sephardic Home for the Aged in Brooklyn, NY. She performs Sephardic songs at many venues around the US. She has 3 CDs, “AcousticNess” (2000), 11 original songs recorded in New Orleas; “Slow Burn”(1989LP; 1997CD with 12 original songs); and “Images of Women, Vol. 1″(2003), selections traditional folk and blues songs, all about women. Robin was a finalist at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival (1989) in Texas, the premier songwriting festival in the country; has appeared all over at folk festivals and on TV talk shows; and toured worldwide for Martin Guitars.…
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Greenfeld, Judy

Cantor Judy Greenfeld is the founder and spiritual leader of the Nachshon Minyan (www.nachshonminyan.org) in Encino, California. Cantor Judy Greenfeld did her undergraduate work at the University of Arizona and received her ordination as well as a Master s Degree in Jewish Sacred Music from the Academy for Jewish Religion, California (www.ajrca.org), a pluralistic rabbinical and cantorial seminary based in Los Angeles. Cantor Greenfeld is the co-author (with Dr. Tamar Frankiel) of two books, Minding the Temple of the Soul and Entering the Temple of Dreamswhich detail a new approach to Jewish prayer through movement and meditation. She has lectured and taught movement and prayer at retreats and synagogues around the United States. One of the highlights of Cantor Greenfeld’s work with the Nachshon Minyan includes authoring a prayer book which reflects a blending of Conservative and Reform traditions.…
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Greenbaum, Adrianne

American. Flautist. Professor of Music at Mt Holyoke College. Graduated Oberlin and Yale. Pianist. Founder (1995)and dance leader of The Klezical Tradition band. Solo Flutist of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra New England and the Wall Street Chamber Players. She has a klezmer website: http://www.klezmerflute.com and a biography is available through Mt. Holyoke at:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/music/profiles/greenbaum.html

Green, Noreen

Choral and orchestra conductor. Nowakowsky specialist. Conductor, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. (founded in 1994.) DMA, University of Southern California. MM,California State University, Northridge. Conductor, American Jewish Choral Society, 1981-1990. Assistant Professor at CSUN, 1986-1992. West Coast Music Director of David Nowakowsky Foundation, 1992-1998. Music Director of Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue in Encino, 1993 to present. Opening ceremonies of the 2001 Maccabi Games, Philadelphia, conductor. Biography on website:
http://www.lajewishsymphony.com/noreengreen.html

Katchko Gray, Cantor Deborah

American cantor. Currently serves Temple Shearith Israel, Ridgefield, CT. Newest CDs are Jewish Soul andSacred Spirit. Cantor Katchko states: “As a fourth generation cantor and the second female in a conservative pulpit (1981), I am passionate about sharing the love of Jewish music I grew up with. In l982 I founded the Women Cantors’ Network to share that love with others- we have grown to over 300 members with annual conferences, newsletters, online discussions, and web site: www.womencantors.net. In addition, I credit my mentor, Prof. Elie Wiesel, for instilling in me a profound love of Jewish culture and sense of responsibility in sharing it. As a mother of four sons and full time cantor since l981, I have tried to instill a sense of Jewish pride and love of music in everything I do.” Cantor Katchko has a discography which includes In Celebration of Israel Independence Day on cassette; Spirited and Soulful on cassette; Jewish Soul, a CD; (also available digitally online) andKinderSongs, a CD.…
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Gottlieb, Ayelet Rose

Singer. Composer. Born in Jerusaelm in 1979, Ms. Gottlieb currently resides in NY. Her mother’s family traces Sephardic roots to 1492 in Jerusalem. She graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2002. Her debut album CD “Internal-External” with her jazz sextet was chosen as best debut album of 2004 by All About Jazz. Her 10-segment song cycle setting of text from the Song of Songs, “Mayim Rabim” (2006) on Tzadik label received rave reviews in the press. The album also includes Michael Gottlieb- Voice; Deanna Neil and Michal Cohen- Background Vocals; Michael Winograd- Clarinet, Bass Clarinet; Anat Fort- Piano; Rufus Cappadocia- Five String Cello; Take Toriyama- Drums and Percussion; and Special Guest- Galeet Dardashti- Persian Trope.
http://www.ayeletrose.com/live/

Bernstein Gostein, Abby

Cantorial soloist, songleader, music educator, composer of Jewish liturgical music. Grew up in Mt. Vernon, NY. Currently at Temple Beth Shalom in Austin, TX., formerly at Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham, MA (1997-2003), and at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, (1994-1997). Bachelor, Psychology, Yale University. Masters, Speech-language Pathology from the University of Texas at Austin.
http://www.bethshalomaustin.org/leadership/music.asp

Gornish, Jean

American. Born: 1916. Died: 1981. Liturgical singer. Known as “Shaindele Di Chazanit”, due to her singing cantorial music. Her father was a chazan in Philadelphia. She sang liturgical music on the radio, at WPEN. She is often called the first woman chazan, but she never served in that capacity. Her papers are held in the Philadelphia Jewish Archive Center

Gorby, Sarah

Yiddish singer. Born Kishinev, Russia, around 1900. Died Paris, 1980. Recorded songs during the 1940s-1970s in Paris, Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv. At age 17 left Kishinev to study music in Jassy, Romania, where she married. Within a few years she moved to Rome, and then to Paris. In 1940, she and her husband emigrated to Haiti, and eventually to the US. In 1949, she moved back to Paris. Her husband died in 1950 in Haiti. She spoke nine languages fluently. She recorded Yiddish songs for a variety of commercial record companies.

Goldstein, Sylvia

American. Composer, teacher and conductor and singer. Studied at Juilliard School of Music, Preparatory Division 1950 -1953, Cornell University 1953 -1955 (Dean’s List), Brandeis University 1955 -1957: B.A. in Music, cum laude, 1957, Phi Beta Kappa, 1997; Longy School of Music from 1955 -1958 and University of California, Berkeley 1960 to 1962: M.A. in Music, 1962. Currently Chair, Piano Department, Hartford Conservatory of Music where she teaches piano and theory. Also serves as temple music director, choir director for Greater Hartford Jewish Community Center, and music history instructor at local colleges. Member of CT State Music Teachers Association, The Music Club of Hartford, The Women Cantors Network and the Guild of Temple Musicians. Her Jewish sacred works include cantorial music for Shabbat, psalms, healing, weddings, nigunim, and general songs on Jewish subjects.…
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Gluck, Alma

Nee Riba Fiensohn. Opera Singer. Born Iasi, Romania, May 11, 1884. Immigrated to the US with her family around 1894. Her father Leon was a violinist and her mother Zara had a “beautiful singing voice,” although she never did any serious performing. Riba graduated from Hunter College and married Bernard Glick, an insurance executive many years her senior, in 1902. Although an unhappy marriage, Riba had a daughter, the author Marcia Davenport. In 1906, she began to study with Arturo Buzzi-Peccia, one of New York’s finest vocal instructors. Riba was signed to the Metropolitan Opera around 1909. When she signed with the Met, Riba took the stage name Alma Gluck with the encouragement of Arturo Toscanini. Her first stage appearance was as Sophie in Massenet’s Werther.…
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Ginsburgh, Judy Caplan

Professional Singer/Recording Artist/Educator.She majored in Vocal Performance from the Indiana University School of Music. Ginsburgh “presents over 100 concerts a year in schools, libraries, community centers, museums and festivals throughout North America.” She has been a Louisiana State Roster Artist since 1988 and was named the Louisiana Professional Artist of the Year in 1999. “Judy is a three time Parents Choice Foundation Award winner and she has received a Seal of Approval from the National Parenting Center.” Ginsburgh created a new Jewish Early Childhood Music curriculum with CD called “My Jewish World” for the Union of Reform Judaism and Transcontinental Music.
http://www.judymusic.com/