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. Educator and composer and lyricist. Parallel in generation to Miriam Gideon, she was born, September 10, 1909, Sventzian, Lithuania. Daughter of Mordecai M. Kaplan, founder of Reconstructionism. Died February 14, 1996, Bethesda,(Rockeville?) MD. at age 86. Studied at the Institute of Musical Art (forerunner to Julliard). Graduated Columbia, BS, 1928, and Master in Music Education, 1932. Married Ira Eisenstein, 1934. PhD from HUC-JIR, 1966. Taught at HUC-JIR (1966-1979); Also attended Teachers Institute of JTS and taught there 1929-1954. Taught at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1968-1980 (1978-1981?). Created many teaching materials for her pedagogy and history of Jewish music courses. Publications include Gateway to Jewish Song (1937); Songs of Childhood(1955); and Heritage of Music: The Music of the Jewish People (1972, 1990). Many of her English translations of Hebrew songs became well-known standards sung by Jewish children throughout the US.…
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Vocalist. American cantorial singer. Born the child of Holocaust survivors in Haifa, Israel in 1945. Involved in interreligious community work. Performs Jewish music in concerts, lectures at colleges, churches, the media, schools and other interreligious venues. Currently lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and serves as cantorial singer at Temple Judah. Musical training through the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

American. Born 1907. Died 1981. First woman performer with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. More information held at the Maryland Historical Society in the Baltimore Symphony Series of Oral Histories.

American vocalist, teacher, songwriter. Runs workshops for elders and youth in California.Member of jazz a cappella group Vocolot with Linda Hirshhorn and others. Has recorded several CDs of her original music.

American. Pianist. born 26 April 1898. died 25 Jan. 1990, in Seattle, WA. Active during the 1940s and 50s touring in the “Cavalcade of Jewish Music” with her husband Maurice. Often obtained arrangements from various well known Jewish composers. During World War II played for troops. Retired to Seattle. Papers in the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Israeli born-American based mezzo-soprano. Teacher and Vocal coach. Discovered by Jennie Tourel. Studied voice at the Juilliard School of Music and Piano at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. Ms. Gal won prestigious awards such as the Paris and Munich International Voice Competition, and Young Concert Artists in NY. Gal has sung at top opera houses and festivals all over the world, such as La Scala, Paris, Covent garden, Vienna, Glyndebourne, Santa Fe, & Pesaro. Gal sung with conductors such as Von Karajan, Abbado, Mehta, and with major orchestras such as New York, Israel and the Berlin Philharmonic. Gal has appeared in the title role of Carmen in Peter Brook’ s Theatre and Film production of La Tragedie de Carmen. Gal has recorded for major record labels including RCA, CBS, Philips and EMI.…
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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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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

American. Singer song-writer. Resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Presents programs of songs and humor around the United States. Co-publisher of Jewish Heartland for many years.

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

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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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.

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.

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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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/

American. Rock musician and Jewish music synthesist. Born, New York. Educated at UC Berkeley. Traveled widely in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Israel and Egypt helping influence her musical development. Both parents also influenced her musical tastes as well as exposure to diverse music. Collaborated on a film score directed by Lynn Sachs called “A Biography of Lilith.” Founded Charming Hostess, a hybrid music band, which includes Jewish and Yiddish musical and cultural influences. Her album Trelectic, released on the Tzaddik label, is a song cycle for female voices, but explores the relationship of Asja Lacis and Walter Benjamin, the influential philosopher. Sarajevo Blues(2004) is a CD that witnesses the terror of war. Her earlier work, Eat,(1998) is punk-klezmer.
http://www.charminghostess.us/

American. Jewish educator and songwriter, specializing in music for young children. Graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor’s degree in Music. She earned her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Arcadia University. “Ellen began her formal piano studies at the age of five, studied flute through elementary and high school, and learned to play acoustic guitar while a student in college. After graduating with a degree in music education, she taught elementary vocal music, grades K – 6. Pursuing further graduate studies under the tutelage of renowned Orff teacher Joseph Wuytack, she brought a strong Orff component into her music teaching. The Orff method continues to be a significant influence on Ellen’s teaching, performing, and songwriting.” Together with husband Peter Allard, Ellen put together the Bring The Sabbath Home song book
http://www.peterandellen.com/…
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American born singer. Aroeste’s family roots are Greece and Macedonia– her family came from Salonika, Greece before going to the US. Sarah trained in classical opera at Westminster Choir College and Yale University. She later studied with Nico Castel in Tel Aviv and in the US. Aroeste sings primarily in Ladino, in a musical genre originating from Spain. The Aroeste’s sound combines and updates aspects from her ‘unique family background with influx of Latin-based music in America over the past few years.’ To date, Sarah Aroeste has released four recordings, A la Una: In the Beginning (2003), Puertas (2007), Gracia (2012) and most recently, Ora de Despertar (2016),
http://www.saraharoeste.com

American Reform cantor and opera singer. Born in New York City. Attended Manhattan High School of Music & Art. B.A. in vocal performance, Manhattan School of Music. Master of Sacred Music, 1986, Hebrew Union College. Also attended SF School of Psychology. Made Carnegie Hall debut with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of New York. 1974-77, Israel National Opera. 1987 began as Cantor of the Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. Won Liederkranz Award and the Minna Kaufman Ruud Foundation prize. CD: “The Jewish Soul”.
http://www.emanuelsf.org/about_staff_barak.htm

American cantor. Born, 1956. Graduated (with Erica Lippitz) in May, 1987 as the first women from the Jewish Theological Seminary to be awarded the degree of Hazzan. Spanish teacher, and international banker before entering the Seminary. Cantor Barugel works at Congregation B’nai Israel in Rumson, NJ.

American. Composer. “Marion Bauer (15 August 1882-9 August 1955), daughter of French Jewish immigrants in Washington state, was a member of what scholars have called the “forgotten vanguard” of modernism…” Musicologist Dr. Melissa De Graaf has written a biographical sketch of Marion Bauer for the Jewish Music WebCenter, which can be viewed here as a pdf file.

Dr. De Graaf’s work is copyrighted. Pleasecontact JMWC if you need more information about the use of this article.

Israeli born clarinetist Michal Beit-Halachmi graduated from Givatayim Conservatory, where she studied with Eva Wasserman-Margolis. She continued her musical studies in the United States at Indiana University and Duquesne University, receiving her Bachelor of Music Degree in 1999. In 2002, she received her Master of Music degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook, under the tutelage of Charles Neidich. She has been a scholarship recipient of the America- Israel Cultural Foundation since 1997. She has toured Russia and Armenia with the American- Russian Young Artist Orchestra, performances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany) and a concert in the Salzburg Festival with members of the Vienna Philharmonic. Other festival appearances include the Sarasota Chamber Music Festival, and Domaine Forget in Quebec, Canada. Ms. Beit-Halachmi has concertized extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Israel and in Russia, Belgium, Hungary, Germany and the United States.…
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American. Vocalist specializes in Jewish music in Yiddish and Hebrew. Lives in Boston area.

American. Yiddish singer. Performs with her ensemble, using varied Yiddish programs of holiday songs, children’s songs and folk and theater favorites at festivals, concerts, schools, at simkhes.

American klezmer musician. Madison, Wisconsin.