Born in Lativa in April 23, 1915? 1920?. Ethnomusicologist. Came to the US in 1947 after losing her husband, parents and brother in the Holocaust. Earned a doctorate from HUC and master from Columbia University.Taught for two years at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Taught at Jewish Theological Seminary, starting in 1954 and continued there for over thirty years. Founded Department of Ethnomusicology in 1962 which specialized in the music of the Jews of Yemen, India and the Middle East. Collected an archive of thousands of recordings of Jews from very varied backgrounds. She produced numerous article and documentary films on the musics from these Jewish communities.

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. Born December 14, 1914,in Chicago. Pianist. Graduated Julliard School of Music, 1935. Studied with Olga Samaroff. Carnegie Hall Debut Oct. 18, 1935. and Town Hall Young Artist Award with all-Bach concert over six weeks in 1937. She taught extensively in the New York area, and also toured frequently in Europe, Israel, South Africa and South America. Recorded Bach and other keyboard reportoire for harpsichord, clavichord and organ. Recipient of five honorary doctorates. Publications included Introduction to the Performance of Bach (1960). Taught at Mannes College (1940-1944); Julliard (1943-1955); Univ. of California at San Diego (1966-1972) and Yale (1991-1993). In 1994 she founded the Tureck Bach Research Institute at Oxford. Her CDs are still widely available. Many of her papers are held at the Special Collections of Mugar Library, Boston University and at the New York Public Library, Music Division at Lincoln Center.…
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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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American. Pianist and social worker. Born, May 20, 1920, San Francisco. Also lived in Australia and England. Died, January 1, 1981, London. Concertized widely with her brother, Yehudi Menuhin in her youth, and again in her later years. Had her first recital debut at 8 years old in 1928. Studied with Rudolf Serkin in Basel. Recordings won classical music prizes. Won Prix du Disque at age 12. Moved to Australia in the 1940s. She also worked tirelessly for deprived persons and families and also was an activist for peace and disarmament causes. President, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 1977.

Another sister of the Menhuin family, a pianist who died at age 81 She was born Oct. 2, 1921 in San Francisco. Married to Benjamin Lionel Wolfe Oct. 1941 Divorced in 1960 and married Joel Taylor Rice in June 1960. She died June 9, 2001 at Canfield Gardens, London, England.

Opera Star and philanthropist, Chairperson of Lincoln Center, and for many years, director of New York City Opera. Debut with the San Francisco Opera in 1953 and New York City opera in 1955. Joined the board of the Metropolitan Opera in 1991 where she had debuted in 1975. Beverly Sills, affectionately known to millions of fans as “Bubbles”, is a classical high coloratura soprano with an incredible range, flexibility and poise. She sang a repertoire of over 70 operas. She is the recipient of the French Order of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the New York City Handel Medallion, and a Kennedy Center Honor among her many achievements and honors. Born in Brooklyn, NY, as Belle Miriam Silverman May 25, 1929.
Article/Interview with Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Governor’s Commission Honoring Beverly Sills/New York State Council on the Arts webpage…
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American. vocalist. Sings traditional Yiddish music in Marin County/San Franscisco Bay Area and with Hot Kugel band.
www.hotkugel.com

Mira Waksman-Kimiagaroof, a San Francisco-based artist, sings in Hebrew, although many compositions are Sephardic (Mediterranean and Middle Eastern) tunes that come from Uzbekistan, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Morocco and other Arabic countries. Her parents were of Uzbeki and Afghan heritage and she comes from a cantorial and family. She combines her Israeli musical influences blended with musics from others she works with. Mira’s website has a brief bio, features two recordings and press info. There are photos, but no labels.
http://www.mirasings.com

American. Cantorial Soloist at Temple Emanu-El in San Diego, California, composer and singer. “Myrna received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education and Music from the University of Pittsburgh, and was employed as a counselor and youth advisor at the Irene Kaufman Center, as well as being a music specialist at the Beth Shalom Synagogue Sunday School.” Albums by Myrna Cohen include: Special Days & Lullabies and Quiet Time, Special Days: Songs for Children, and Swinging Chai. Easy to learn songs for very young children.
http://www.soundswrite.com/swmc.html

Soprano. First confirmed cantor in the Humanistic Jewish movement. Specializes in singing in Yiddish, Ladino and Hebrew. Currently with Second Avenue Klezmer Ensemble, based in San Diego, CA.
http://www.secondavenueklezmer.com/

French-born mezzo-soprano Sylvie Braitman graduated from The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has performed with various regional companies. She is a performer in the fields of opera, art song, folk and popular music. Braitman focuses on 20th century music– she has premiered opera roles such as Mrs. Vallejo in David Conte’s The Dreamers (Sonoma Opera), Anja in Philippe Manoury’s 60th Parallelconducted by Kent Nagano (Berkeley Symphony). Other roles include Marcellina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Madame Larina in Eugene Oneguin, Thisbe in Cenerentola and Mercedes inCarmen. She is a regular feature of the Berkeley Jewish Music Festival and has conceived various one-woman-shows that tell the story of her family’s Holocaust experience through the use of Yiddish music, acting and story telling.…
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