Born 1880. Died, 1908. singer. Some papers held at the Western Jewish History Center in Berkeley.

American singer, composer and educator. Dr. Isabelle Ganz received her D.M.A. in Voice and Music Literature from the Eastman School of Music. She is Director of Music for Congregation Brith Shalom in Houston and is on the Voice Faculty of Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. In 1997 she was a Fulbright Scholar in Jerusalem and taught at Rubin Academy in Israel, and received a NEA Solo Recitalist grant in 1992. Dr. Ganz is a champion of contemporary music. She has performed as vocal soloist with Luciano Berio, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Gerard Schwartz and many other composers and conductors. One of the pioneers in the field of Sephardic music, her New York-based ensemble, ALHAMBRA, founded in 1981, has performed throughout the world. For 20 years she was a cantorial soloist for both Reform and Conservative congregations in the U.S., as well as in Winnipeg, Amsterdam and Munich.…
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American. Cantor. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Cantor Garfein graduated cum laude from Rice University s Shepherd School of Music with a degree in vocal performance and opera. In 1993, she received her Master s Degree in Sacred Music and Cantorial Investiture from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). While completing her studies at HUC-JIR, Cantor Garfein was the Director of Children s Music at Riverdale Temple, Riverdale, the Bronx, New York. While in Israel, she was a featured soloist with the Ra a na na Orchestra and the Zamir Chorale at the Jerusalem Theater in Israel. Upon graduation from HUC-JIR, she subsequently became the first Cantor of Riverdale Temple, and served in that capacity until 1999, when she was the first woman appointed as Senior Cantor of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City.…
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Born, December 26, 1906. Died January 18, 1998. Singer. Sister of George and Ira Gershwin. Often sang Gershwin songs and recorded them.
http://www.spiderjazz.com/html/frankie.htm

Jewish musicologist who worked in Israel. Born in Germany in 1908. She wrote: liner notes to recording: Musik der Bibel in der Tradition althebräischer Melodien. (1950); The Persian doctrine of Dastga-composition: a phenomenological study in the musical modes (1963); Migrations and mutations of the music in East and West : selected writings (1980). Gerson-Kiwi worked extensively with music of Jewish communities outside of Europe.

Information from the recording by CRI on the composer’s works. For additional information on Miriam Gideon, see the article by Judith Pinnolis in Women and Music in America Since 1900 vol. I, (Greenwood Press, 2002). Gideon’s compositions with Jewish materials include: The Hound of Heaven (1945), How Goodly Are Thy Tents (1947), Adon Olam (1954) , Psalm 84, Three Biblical Masques (1958), Sacred Service (1970), Shirat Miriam L’Shabbat (1974), The Resounding Lyre (1979), and A Woman of Valor(1981).
http://www.composersrecordings.com/cd/782.html

Anne Gray’s article as published in the IAWM Journal, February 1997, pp. 20, full text.
http://music.acu.edu/www/iawm/articles/feb97/gray.html
see also:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/~hkaivola/gideon.html

Gila Goldstein, a concert pianist from Israel and working in New York has released a new CD Piano Works of Paul Ben Haim. Her website lists upcoming concerts, reviews of her performances and contact information.
http://www.gilagoldstein.com

Israeli. Singer/Songwriter. Clarinetist. former Spanish teacher. Native of Long Island, New York. nee Vicki Wiseblatt. B.A. in Linguistics from Harvard College, where she performed with a Renaissance choir, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and hosted a jazz program on WHRB radio. While earning an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College, she continued her interest in radio broadcast as a DJ for a Spanish music show on WRMC. She performed with award-winning political theater throughout the East Coast, produced an album in Spanish which made its debut in the Caribbean, and sang back-up vocals in Boston’s folk scene for singer-songwriter Pat Burtis. Among other interests, she is a former Kripalu yoga instructor and martial arts student. Devora Gila, a now frum vocalist, whose recordings are marked for “women only”, has one of the hippest religious recordings around, Hodu Lashem (2003).…
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Born in Poland in 1914. Composer. Lived in Israel.

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/

NOTE: Giora Schuster was incorrectly identified in the International Encyclopedia of Women Composers, by Aaron I. Cohen, (New York: RR Bowker Co: 1981) p. 416, as female. Actually, Schuster is a male Israeli, born in Germany in 1915, He had an outpouring of music published in the 1960s, mostly chamber music. The JMWC is indepted to Dr. Yosef Goldenberg of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance for pointing out the error in the encyclopedia for us.

Rabbi. Composer of spiritual music. Ordained, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Leader in ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and is the director of C-DEEP (Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice) in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. 9 CDs. Has written new liturgies and chants.
http://rabbishefagold.com/index.html

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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American. Singer, musician, actor and writer. Sings Yiddish, folk, jazz, American standards. Also worked as teacher, playwright and screenwriter.

American. Singer, musician, actor and writer. Sings Yiddish, folk, jazz, American standards. Also worked as teacher, playwright and screenwriter.

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.

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

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/

American. accordionist. Play klezmer, Israeli, Jewish and Balkan music.

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

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

Host of “Jewish Spectrum,” on KOPN-FM 89.5 radio in Columbia, MO. The show, aired on Sundays, has a broad spectrum of Jewish music, including a healthy dose of Klezmer.

Israeli born composer and teacher. Born Jaffa, 1900. Died Tel-Aviv, 1966.

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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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

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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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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Israeli. Singer of Judeo-Spanish music. Ph.D. candidate, ethnomusicology at the Program on Ladino Folklore, Ladino Department, Bar-Ilan University. Research student at the Technical University of Istanbul-Conservatoire, Turkey (Vocal Department) where she studied folklore, classical Turkish music, and makam. Research interests: the song in Ladino in the contemporary stage. Research assistant at the Jewish Music Research Center at Hebrew University on the cataloging of the Ladino song collection at the National Sound Archive. Her first solo album, Yahudice: Urban Ladino Music from Istanbul, Izmir, Thessalonika and Jerusalem (Kalan, 2003), was released in Istanbul. Judith Cohen, has said of her CD: “excellent Hadass Pal-Yarden cd –one of the rare cases where I’ve barely ANY criticism!! except for her harmonized Moroccan version of the ballad “Landarico”, –which is at odds with the rest of her VERY fine, tradition-based interpretations throughout the cd — probably the best I’ve heard in the genre.”…
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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 .

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.

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/

Ofra Haza webpage with Harmony Ridge Music. Site includes a catalog of her recordings, brief career biography and reviews.
http://www.rahul.net/hrmusic/discos/ohframe.html

Swedish-Jewish singer living in Uppsala, Sweden. Sings Jewish songs and klezmer in Yiddish, Hebrew, Hungarian Ladino and Swedish.

Robyn Helzner performs Ladino, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and English Jewish folk songs. She often tours as part of a trio.
http://www.helzner.com/

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.

Israeli composer of popular songs. Nurit Hirsch wrote such tunes as “Oseh Shalom” and “Bashanah Haba’ah” which are so popular that they have become accepted almost as “folk”. She’s written nearly a thousand songs. Choral arrangements of her songs at:http://www.zamir.org/composers/HirschNurit.html

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

American cantor. Guitarist. Based in M’Kor Shalom Synagogue in Cherry Hill, NJ. Grew up in Levittown, PA. B.S. in Music Education. Cantorial training at Gratz College.

Israeli composer born in 1917. Ms. Ingber, a composer, originally came from Vienna.

American. Educator, editor, poet. Born, September, 1890, Portland, Oregon. Died, 1991. Her parents were J.F. and Amelia (Marks) Reinhart. Attended HUC, 1909-1910. BA, University of Cincinnati, 1912. Irma Cohon wrote the first English language history of Jewish music (A.Z. Idelssohn’s book was 1929):Introduction to Jewish Music in eight illustrated lectures (publ. before 1923), published by the National Council on Jewish Women (the 1923 edition by Bloch is a second edition). She collaborated with HUC prof, A.Z. Idelsohn, on Harvest Festivals, A Children’s Succoth Celebration. Cohon wrote poetry and several other works including A Brief Jewish Ritual (Women of Mizpah, 1921). On June 12, 1912, A. Irma Cohon married Rabbi Samuel S. Cohon (see Manuscript Collection No.276). They had one son, Baruch Joseph. Cohon’s brother was Harold Reinhart, ‘a prominent liberal rabbi in London, England.’ Her papers and music manuscripts are housed at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati.…
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Born in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, Ms. Jagoda now resides in Virginia. She is a composer, singer and folklorist in Judeo-Spanish, Ladino and Sephardic traditions. In 2002, Ms. Jagoda won the National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellowship.
National Endowment Announcement
Celebrate Series on Flory Jagoda

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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Born, 1920 in Germany. Wrote A Harvest of Jewish Song with Vevel Pasternak. Founded the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center in New York.