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Thank You It s not often I get to say this to the members of Temple Beth Am in print I am so proud to be one of you I cannot find the words to express my true feelings You have been so supportive of the functions I have been involved in from last November 2010 through this year We will continue to grow as the strategic planning committee has predicted This concert and the enormous work put into it by Cantor Inna and her fellow Cantors is just another step along our path The same group of TBA players that has entertained you in the past has worked to make this presentation as good as any other So to Marc Colton Linda Kay Jackie Burge Laura Gurth Bob Lowy Steve Lessick and Bruce Goldman Thank you to Laurie Lindner for designing the program THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH Richie Cantor Ways Means Committee Chair Patrons Underwriters Marsha Bruce Baldinger Marilyn Steve Beloff Marc Jackie Burge Robbie Rich Cantor Eric Julie Friedberg Liz Andrew Gittle Sally Glick Laura Matt Gurth Linda David Kay Cynthia Steve Lessick Bob Lowy Marcia Mauro Merci Dan Prince Dana Alan Sobel Jeannie Richard Stillman Ruth Ted Hochman Committee Richie Cantor Marc Colton Jackie Burge Linda Kay Laura Gurth Steve Lesick Bob Lowy Bruce Goldman Laurie Lindner

Concert Program Halleluyah by Louis Lewandowski All Add on Adoneinu by Solomon Sultzer Galit Dadoun Sh ma Koleinu by Max Helfman Daniel Singer Chasdei Hashem by Israel Alter Daniel Singer and Mo Glazman Ya ale by Max Janowski Inna Serebro Litvak Modim Anachnu Lach by Aminadav Aloni Mo Glazman Set Me as a Seal Upon Thy Heart by Max Helfman Galit Dadoun Sim Shalom by Lawrence Rush Daniel Singer Kaddish Deux m lodies h bra ques by Maurice Ravel Iouri Grichetchkine and Adrian Daurov INTERMISSION Ten Minutes Old Jerusalem by Julius Chajes Inna Serebro Litvak Eilu D varim by Ben Steinberg Galit Dadoun and Mo Glazman Avinu She Bashamaim by Meir Finkelstein Mo Glazman Hashkiveinu by Daniel Singer Daniel Singer Lo Yareiu by Ben Steinberg Galit Dadoun Vocalize Free spirit by Iouri Grichetchkine Inna Serebro Litvak Ma Tovu by Jonathan Comisar Galit Dadoun and Inna Serebro Litvak L Dor Vador by Josh Nelson Mo Glazman V eirashtich Li by Michael Isaacson Inna Serebro Litvak and Daniel Singer Pit chu Li by Robbie Solomon All Debbie Friedman medley All

Meet the Cantors Cantor Serebro Litvak was born in St Petersburg Russia She became exposed to the Synagogue music and Yiddish repertoire from a young age She made aliya to Israel in 1990 with her whole family There she pursued a musical education at the Musical Academy of the Tel Aviv University At that time she sang in numerous concerts throughout the country had a leading role in the play A hosn in Steitl in Yiddish theatre and also sang in the Tel Aviv Philharmonic Choir After graduation from the Musical academy in 1997 Cantor Serebro Litvak came to the United States and continued her studies for the Masters degree at the Miller Cantorial School in the Jewish Theological Seminary She was the first woman from the former Soviet Union to graduate from Jewish Theological Seminary She performed in concerts in various Temples in the New York and New Jersey area and led the High Holiday services at Anshei Emeth in Chicago with Cantor Alberto Mizrahi Cantor Inna Serebro Litvak had also participated in the recordings of the Milken Archive Jewish Music Her solo can be heard on one of the CDs from that collection From July 2002 through June 2005 Inna Serebro Litvak served as a cantor at Temple B nai Or in Morristown New Jersey She is currently the Cantor at Temple Beth Am in Parsippany New Jersey Cantor Serebro Litvak is married to Anatoly Litvak who works as a project manager at KPMJ They have a six year old daughter Emily and four year old daughter Abigail Cantor Mo Glazman grew up in a musical family in Nova Scotia Canada Under the tutelage of his father he learned how to play the violin and appeared as a soloist with Symphony Nova Scotia While completing his Bachelor of Science in Anatomy and Cell Biology from McGill University he sang in the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir in Montreal under the direction of Stephen Glass This experience led Mo to singing in several synagogues throughout Canada and Israel including the Holy Blossom Temple and the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem In 2005 Mo was awarded his Investiture and Masters of Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music For his thesis and recital he wrote produced and starred in a musical based on the life and music of Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt After his Investiture Cantor Glazman joined the Cantors Assembly and the American Conference of Cantors for whom he has been an active member and served on several committees A sought after performer Cantor Glazman has appeared in concerts throughout Europe Israel and North America Recently he was the Tenor Soloist for Handel s Israel in Egypt with the Westchester Choral and Orchestra and a guest performer in the Jewish Cultural Festival of Berlin This festival coincided with the opening of the Jewish Institute of Cantorial Arts the first Cantorial school established in Germany since the Holocaust Mo has performed at Merkin Hall and Avery Fisher Hall and his repertoire spans Cantorial Broadway Classical and Folk genres which he has performed with world renowned Cantors and acclaimed Broadway performers He has produced and recorded Kabbalat Shabbat a CD of liturgical music and he is featured on a CD celebrating the music of The March of the Living Cantor Glazman is honored to be the Cantor and Director of Arts for Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains New York Mo is married to Rachel Feld Glazman his most consistent singing partner

Cantor Galit Dadoun Cohen was born and raised by the seashore in Ashdod Israel She served in the Israeli army in Gaza city and then attended the Ruben Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University She appeared as soloist with the Israeli National Theatre the Tel Aviv Chamber Theatre and Musica Nova of Tel Aviv Galit received her Masters of Music from City University of New York s Brooklyn College studying with Mignon Dunn She sang opera roles and concerts in Munich Germany Tel Aviv Israel and the United States and participated in the Mobile Opera Young Artist Program in Alabama For her Master s thesis and graduate recital at the Hebrew Union College Galit explored the fusion of traditional Sephardic folk song with Western art music in Jewish music of the 20th and 21st century She also deeply loves contemporary Israeli music classical music and traditional Eastern European Hazzanut As a student she was an intern in Temple Shalom in Levittown PA Temple Sinai in Bayshore NY Greenwich Reform Synagogue in Connecticut and her beloved home congregation Kol Ami in White Plains NY Since her investiture last May Galit serves as the cantor of Temple B nai Or in Morristown NJ She shares with her husband Joe the gratitude and endless joy of raising their two daughters Danielle and Naomi Cantor Daniel A Singer holds a Bachelor s degree from the University of Wisconsin with classical guitar and vocal studies a Masters Degree in vocal performance from the University of Michigan and a second Master s Degree in sacred music from the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion School of Sacred Music in Manhattan He served as the Voice Department Chair Opera Workshop Director and Head Start Coordinator at the Flint School for the Performing Arts and maintained a full studio of private voice and guitar lessons He has sung principal bass roles with the Toledo Opera Michigan Opera and other regional and international vocal arts programs including Brevard Music Center and the Israel Vocal Arts Institute and has been nationally recognized in vocal competitions most recently including the Paul Robeson Vocal Competition and the WMTA Wurlitzer Competition He has been selected to participate in Master Classes with renowned artists from Martin Katz to Joan Dornemann and Licia Albanese He maintains a busy schedule of concert appearances both at his home congregation as well as others throughout the United States and the New York metropolitan area and has produced recordings as a featured vocalist for numerous synagogue and secular recordings Besides the demand for his voice as a soloist Singer has also participated as an ensemble singer in choral groups ranging from the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem Male Chorus and Cantors World performances to Jewish and secular a cappella groups His voice has been recorded for radio television and other new media for both voice over and solo singing Recently he was selected as the principal voice for the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed 6 hour PBS Documentary The Jewish Americans by David Grubin under the musical direction of the composer Michael Bacon which began airing internationally in January 2008 He has been a featured lead in musical theater as well most recently with the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene in their productions of On Second Avenue Bar Kochba and The Pirates of Penzance In Yiddish Yam Gazlonim Daniel Singer is a member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild He recently served as a cantorial instructor for Mifgash Musicale at Hebrew Union College in Cincinatti as well as The URJ Adult Study Retreat formerly known as the Kallah and has received accolades as a teacher for his ability to balance high musical standards with informal learning He is currently the Cantor at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the west side in NY

Meet the Cantors Iouri Grichetchkine pianist was born in the cultural capital of Russia St Petersburg in 1966 He started learning music at an early age under the direction of his mother For eleven years he attended Choral College in St Petersburg where he studied choral conducting piano and music theory He completed master level studies at St Petersburg s Rimsky Korsakov State Conservatory obtaining his diploma in choral conducting and teaching He graduated with honors from both schools During his studies in Choral College Iouri enjoyed an active concert life in the famous St Petersburg Boys Choir While at the State Conservatory he was choirmaster for various choirs in his city From 1988 to 2000 Mr Grichetchkine was the choirmaster for the Eterna Muziko choral ensemble which performed over 500 concerts in the former Soviet Union Bulgaria Hungary Poland Germany Great Britain Austria Italy Switzerland and the United States Since 1991 Mr Grichetchkine has lived in the New York metropolitan area where he has served as music director at several churches and synagogues Iouri began composing music at age ten Being music director of different congregations in the United States Mr Grichetchkine has written several masses as well as anthems songs pieces for organ and jazz compositions for piano Recently Iouri was playing his piano works in the Summer Festival in Lisbon Portugal That led to an invitation by the Patriarchate of Lisbon to organize and lead a multicultural choir that performed Iouri s choral works His music was so well received there that it was featured on local radio stations Currently Mr Grichetchkine is music director in St Saviour s Church in Brooklyn and Choir director in Temple Beth Am in New Jersey Adrian Daurov cellist was born in St Petersburg Russia and studied at the St Petersburg Conservatory with Anatoly Nikitin From an early age he appeared as soloist and chamber musician on the main concert stages of St Petersburg and Moscow as well as in Europe and in the United States Daurov was awarded with 1st prizes at the international music competitions in Dobrich Bulgaria 1996 Peter De Grote Groningen The Netherlands 2001 and the LISMA Foundation Competition in New York 2006 He is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he studied with David Soyer of Guarneri Quartet and Andre Emelianoff and is currently a member of the Voxare String Quartet In June of 2007 Daurov was appointed the principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of New York under conductor Savatore Di Vittorio In June of 2008 he was featured in a gala concert in celebration of Russia s independence day at Carnegie Hall

Meet the Composers Solomon Sultzer 1804 1890 Salomon Sultzer was an Austrian hazzan cantor and composer His family which prior to 1813 bore the name of Loewy removed to Hohenems from Sulz in 1748 He was educated for the cantorate studying first under the cantors of Endingen Switzerland and Karlsruhe with whom he traveled extensively and later under Salomon Eichberg cantor at Hohenems and D sseldorf In 1820 Sulzer was appointed cantor at Hohenems where he modernized the ritual and introduced a choir At the instance of Rabbi Mannheimer of Vienna he was called to the Austrian capital as chief cantor in 1826 There he reorganized the song service of the synagogue retaining the traditional chants and melodies but harmonizing them in accordance with modern views Sulzer s Shir Tziyyon 2 vols Vienna 1840 1865 established models for the various sections of the musical service the recitative of the cantor the choral of the choir and the responses of the congregation and it contained music for Sabbaths festivals weddings and funerals which has been introduced into nearly all the synagogues of the world In the compilation of this work he was assisted by some of the best musical composers of Vienna Sulzer published also a small volume of songs for the Sabbath school entitled Duda im and a number of separate compositions both secular and sacred His responses are tuneful and though more melodious than the choral chant of the Catholic Church show a strong resemblance to it In all his compositions strict attention is paid to the Hebrew text and a scrupulous adherence to syntactic construction is observed throughout The collection Zwanzig Ges nge f r den Israelitischen Gottesdienst Vienna 1892 was printed posthumously In his Denkschrift an die Wiener Cultusgemeinde he sums up his ideas on the profession of cantor Sulzer who was widely famed as a singer and as an interpreter of Schubert was a professor at the imperial conservatorium of Vienna a knight of the Order of Francis Joseph I and a maestro of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome Universally recognized as the regenerator of synagogal music he has been called the father of the modern cantorate Louis Lewandowski 1821 1894 Lewandowski was born at Wreschen province of Posen Prussia At the age of twelve he went to Berlin to study piano and voice and became solo soprano in the synagogue Afterward he studied for three years under A B Marx and attended the school of composition of the Berlin Academy There his teachers were Karl Rungenhagen and Eduard Grell After graduating with high honors he was appointed in 1840 choirmaster of the Berlin synagogue In that capacity he rendered invaluable services in the development of music for synagogue ritual His principal works include Kol Rinnah u Tefillah for chorus Todah ve Zimrah for mixed chorus solo and organ 40 psalms for solo chorus and organ symphonies overtures cantatas and songs In 1866 he received the title of royal musical director Shortly afterward he was appointed choirmaster in the Neue Synagoge Berlin for which he composed the entire musical service His arrangements of ancient Hebrew melodies for choir cantor and organ are considered masterly productions characterized by great simplicity and a profound religious sentiment Many of Lewandowski s pupils became prominent cantors Lewandowski was the principal founder of the Institute for Aged and Indigent Musicians an institution that prospered under his management Lewandowski died in Berlin in 1894 Mourice Ravel 1875 1937 Mourice Ravel was born in Ciboure France At age 14 he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire Completing his piano studies he returned to study composition with Gabriel Foure writing the important piano piece Jeux d eau completed 1901 and a string quartet In the next decade he produced some of his best known music including Pavane pour une infante d funte 1899 the String Quartet 1903 and the Sonatine for piano 1905 His great ballet Daphnis et Chlo 1912 was commissioned by the impresario Sergey Diaghilev Other works include the opera L Enfant et les sortileges 1925 the suite Le Tombeau de Couperin 1917 and the orchestral works La Valse 1920 and Bol ro 1928 Deux m lodies h bra ques were written in 1914 at Saint Jean de Luz The first song Kaddisch uses an Aramaic text from the Jewish prayer book L nigme ternelle is based on a traditional Yiddish verse They were first performed in June 1914 by Alvina Alvi who commissioned them with Ravel at the piano

Max Helfman 1901 1963 Composer author conductor and educator a graduate of the David Mannes Music College and the Curtis Institute and a student of Rosario Scalero and Fritz Reiner He conducted music at the Temple Emanuel in Paterson New Jersey between 1926 and 1939 the Temple B nai Abraham in Newark New Jersey 1940 1953 the Bach Handel Society in Westfield New Jersey 1939 1943 and the Peoples Philharmonic Chorus 1937 1949 He was music director at the Brandeis Youth Foundation 1944 1961 and Temple Sinai in Los Angeles California 1954 1957 He was on the faculty of the Hebrew Union College and the School of Sacred Music in New York 1949 1952 and music director at both the Hillel Foundation at the University of California Los Angeles UCLA USC 1954 1959 and the Hebrew Congregation in Washington DC 1958 1962 He also founded the Dean College of Fine Arts and the University of Judaism in 1961 Israel Alter 1901 1971 Israel Alter was born in Lvov Ukraine A powerful tenor Alter studied music in Vienna and began his career as a cantor at the age of 20 He moved on to Hanover Germany for a decade before becoming the chief chazan in Johannesburg South Africa In 1961 Alter moved to the United States and became a faculty member at the School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion Alter was responsible for notating between 1966 and 1971 the complete musical settings for the Sabbath festivals and Holy Days that were published by the Cantors Assembly He considered this achievement the fulfillment of a 50 year old promise to make the notes of chazanut available to young and talented cantorial aspirants who prior to the advent of the tape recorder had little access to the improvisational art of the chazan Julius Chajes 1910 1985 Julius Chajes was born in Lvov He studied the piano under Richard Robert Julius Isserlis Mr and Mrs Moriz Rosenthal and composition under Hugo Kauder His first string quartet written at the age of thirteen was performed in 1934 together with his second string quartet by the famed Rose Quartet for Chajes s farewell recital in Vienna At the age of fifteen Chajes performed his Romantic Fantasy with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra He was the Honor Prize winner at the First International Competition for Pianists in Vienna in 1933 One year later he was appointed head of the piano department at the Music College of Tel Aviv During his stay in Israel Chajes conducted extensive research on ancient Hebrew music In the wake of this research and local influences Chajes transformed his style of composition and became known as one of the foremost composers of modern Israeli music After coming to the United States in 1937 he played three recitals in Town Hall In 1940 he accepted positions in Detroit including a teaching post at Wayne State University Max Janowski 1912 1991 Max Janowski was a composer of Jewish liturgical music a conductor choir director and voice teacher Born in Berlin in the early 1930 s he became head of the piano department at the Musashino Academy of Music Tokyo Japan He immigrated to the United States in 1937 and served in the U S Navy during World War II Max Janowski s choral works include the traditional Jewish prayers Avinu Malkeinu Our Father Our King a hymn for the High Holy Days Sim Shalom Song of Peace which was dedicated to the American diplomat Ralph Bunche Yismehu and Ve Shomeru Janowski was the longtime music director at K A M Isaiah Israel Congregation in Hyde Park in Chicago Aminadav Aloni 1928 1999 Ami was born in Tel Aviv in 1928 while Palestine was under British mandate His parents were children of pioneers families that fled the pogroms of eastern Europe In 1945 Ami set off to study music piano in the United States He was then accepted to Juilliard and moved to New York to pursue advanced piano studies Ami s first job as a composer came from his old friend Francine Parker in

1964 In 1966 he was asked by his friend Sam Fordis Cantor and musical director at Valley Beth Shalom synagogue to accompany services there Ami became music and choir director at Valley Beth Shalom in 1977 In this position he worked with the VBS choir to premiere his new liturgical works and to help him refine ideas and themes His world renowned Hallel service the Torah Service a multitude of compositions for Shabbat and High Holidays and Yizkor service sprang from this key period in his composing Cantors and choirs around the world have been singing these compositions as part of their regular repertoire ever since At this same time Ami was also experiencing a burgeoning career as a television composer Ami was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 1994 a virtually incurable form of cancer Shortly after this news while he was critically ill Ami received a commission from the ACC GTM for a Refaenu Ben Steinberg Born to Jewish parents in Winnipeg Steinberg was the son of cantor and conductor Alexander Steinberg By the age of 8 he was singing as a soloist with his father s synagogue choir and by the age of 12 he was also conducting choirs He studied music education at the University of Toronto where he earned a Bachelor of Music in 1961 In 1950 Steinberg was appointed director of the music program at the school at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto a position he held until 1960 when he became the temple s music director He remained in that post until he became music director at Temple Sinai in 1970 From 1953 1958 he taught at various public schools in the Toronto area He became the head of the music department at Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute in 1961 He left there in 1964 to become the head of the music program at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute where he remained until 1986 In 1961 the Union of American Hebrew Congregations commissioned and published his method for youth choirs Together Do They Sing During the 1960s Steinberg composed three sacred services which were published by Transcontinental Music He later wrote two more services of which one was published in 1990 Transcontinental has also published several of Steinberg s choral organ orchestral and vocal works including The Vision of Isaiah 1970 for tenor choir and organ or instrumental ensemble Yerushalayim 1973 for soprano choir and orchestra and Echoes of Children 1979 a cantata for soloist narrator chorus and orchestra The latter composition was awarded the International Gabriel Award and was twice performed on nationally televised broadcasts on PBS in the United States In 1978 and 1980 Steinberg was the artist in residence for the city of Jerusalem In 1980 Paul Brodie commissioned his Suite Sephardi and in 1983 his Suite for String Orchestra was commissioned by the Chamber Players of Toronto In 1983 he won a composition award from the American Harp Society for his Suite for Flute Viola and Harp 1981 and was awarded the Kavod Award of the Cantor s Assembly In 1989 baritone Richard Allen recorded several of his works on the cassette A Ben Steinberg Concert and in 1990 his Invocations was commissioned by Lawrence Cherney He was commissioned to write a total of 18 compositions by temples synagogues and congregations in the USA between 1980 and 1991 Michael Isaacson Michael Isaacson born 1946 in Brooklyn New York USA is an influential composer of Jewish synagogue music as well as one of the originators of the Jewish Camp Song movement His camp songs often written and premiered in the same day defined the camp music movement in the 1960s and have been cited as influences by modern Jewish pop stars such as Debbie Friedman and Craig Taubman Initially studying composition with Robert Starer at Brooklyn College Dr Isaacson is a classically trained composer and orchestrator holding a Ph D in Composition from the Eastman School of Music where he studied under Warren Benson and Samuel Adler Isaacson moved to Los Angeles in 1976 to pursue a career in composing and arranging for television and film While there Isaacson was commissioned by several local congregations producing his most popular synagogue works Sim Shalom from the Regeneration album and Bayom Hahu from the Nishmat Chayim Shabbat service In 1988 he proposed the idea of a recorded 20th century Jewish music archive to Lowell Milken in Los Angeles and served as the initial architect and Founding Music Director for the first fourteen new recordings of the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music Today the Milken Archive is the world s largest recorded archive of composed Jewish music Anticipating the turn of the 21st century Isaacson composed and produced a Sabbath evening service entitled L maaseih V reisheet To Recreate the World with standardized pre recorded accompaniment tracks and state of the art synthesis and instrumentation EWIs and EBIs

Robbie Solomon Cantor Robbie Solomon is internationally known as a composer of Jewish choral works and synagogue repertoire His stirring anthem Leaving Mother Russia written in 1979 became the rallying cry of the Soviet Jewry movement and established him as a musical interpreter of Jewish conscience He has since authored dozens of songs of Jewish content including World of Our Fathers Falasha Nevermore Piece by Piece and is well known as a performer song writer with the popular Jewish music group SAFAM In addition to over ten original CD s with SAFAM Cantor Solomon s works have been performed and recorded by numerous cantors and choirs throughout the world Solomon s synagogue works are characterized by their melodic lyricism and accessibility As a cantor Robbie fashions his compositions for use in the services His music strives to bring the voice of the congregation into the prayers mixing the familiar with the new Along with an Orthodox upbringing in Baltimore Maryland and rabbinical study at the Hebrew Union College Cantor Solomon received conservatory training at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory He is certified with both the Reform and Conservative movements the ACC and CA respectively Cantor Solomon presently the cantor at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Meir Finkelstein Meir Finkelstein born in Israel in 1951 immigrated with his family to England when he was four years old after his father Cantor Zvi Finkelstein accepted a position at one of London s premier congregations At fourteen Meir became the youngest cantor in Europe taking his first professional post at the synagogue in Glasgow Scotland Five years later he moved back to London where he assumed the cantor s post of the prestigious Golders Green Synagogue While there he studied at the Royal College of Music and graduated with honors receiving his ARCM diploma in singing piano and composition In 1974 he immigrated to the United States and in 1978 he moved to Los Angeles where he served as cantor at Sinai Temple in Westwood for eighteen years During this time he composed more than 100 works for the synagogue and also composed for television In 1995 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles he premiered his symphonic choral work Liberation composed to commemorate the liberation of the concentration camps during the Holocaust Finkelstein is also known for his musical score to Steven Spielberg s television documentary Survivors of the Shoah Currently he serves as cantor of Congregation Beth Tzedec in Toronto Lawrence Rush Lawrence Rush was born in Cleveland Ohio and grew up in Los Angeles At 16 he became the youngest member of the world renowned performance group The Young Americans He graduated from California State University Northridge with a degree in music voice While in San Francisco he wrote music lyrics for his first musical Waiting at Patroni s which received a staged reading and firmly planted in him the composer bug Here he found his unique voice blending the lush classical influences of Richard Strauss Mahler Prokofiev and Poulenc the melodic structure and rhythmic spikiness of Richard Rodgers Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein with a bit of the contemporary thrown in In 1990 he began writing the epic musical Winter of the Fall which tells the story of the last days of Nicolai and Elena Ceaucescu the corrupt vicious and somewhat ridiculous dictators of Romania as well as a mini musical Next Door based on a Kurt Vonnegut short story Between 1997 and 2003 Lawrence wrote the music lyrics for the bi lingual musical A Maiden s Consent for the National Theater of the Performing Arts which toured high schools throughout the country several times He wrote Friday Night Sabbath Service for chorus cantor and soloists several pieces of which are performed regularly at several synagogues Sim Shalom from the service was a winner of the Shalshelet Award for Jewish Choral Music

Debbie Friedman February 23 1951 January 9 2011 Deborah Lynn Debbie Friedman was an American composer and singer of songs with Jewish religious content She was born in Utica New York but moved with her family to Minnesota at age 5 She is best known for her setting of Mi Shebeirach the prayer for healing which is used by hundreds of congregations across America Despite her being gay her songs were used by some Orthodox Jewish congregations as well as non Orthodox Jewish congregations Ms Friedman was a feminist and Orthodox Jewish feminist Blu Greenberg noted that while Ms Friedman s music impacted most on Reform and Conservative liturgy she had a large impact in Modern Orthodox shuls women s tefillah prayer the Orthodox feminist circles She was a religious bard and angel for the entire community She wrote many of her early songs as a song leader at the overnight camp Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc Wisconsin in the early 1970s Between 1971 and 2010 she recorded more than 19 albums Her work was inspired by such diverse sources as Joan Baez Peter Paul and Mary and a number of other folk music artists Friedman employed both English and Hebrew lyrics and wrote for all ages Some of her other songs include The Aleph Bet Song Miriam s Song and the Hanukkah songs Not By Might and I am a Latke Friedman had suffered since the 1990s from a neurological condition with effects apparently similar to multiple sclerosis The story of her music as well as the challenges she faced in living with illness were featured in a 2004 documentary film about Friedman called A Journey of Spirit produced by Ann Coppel which followed her from 1997 to 2002 In 2007 Friedman accepted an appointment to the faculty of Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion s School of Sacred Music in New York where she instructed both rabbinic and cantorial students She was admitted to an Orange County Hospital in January 2011 where she died January 9 2011 from pneumonia Jonathan Comisar Jonathan Comisar began his music career in his native Rochester N Y where he studied piano in the preparatory department of the Eastman School of Music Scholarship for At the age of 17 he won first prize in the Eastman Young Artists Auditions Runlet and performed as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra He continued to study piano and music theory at the Oberlin Conservatory and after graduation studied composition with Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Del Tredici Jonathan Comisar is an invested Cantor with a Masters in Sacred Music from the Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music He is a noted composer of Jewish liturgical music and has received commissions and artist residencies from synagogues across North America including Central Synagogue in New York City for which he composed Sefarad A chamber quartet for piano violin cello and oboe a musical meditation the Jewish Golden Age of Spain His compositions have been published by Transcontinental Music Inc Comisar also has been appointed to the faculty of Hebrew Union College where he teaches courses on music theory liturgy and composing arranging This summer Jonathan will lead a group of Reform Jewish teenagers on a singing tour of Eastern Europe and Israel Josh Nelson Josh Nelson is one of the most popular performers and producers in modern Jewish music A multi instrumentalist and songwriter Josh s music is celebrated and integrated into the repertoire of congregations camps and communities around the world Delivering high octane Jewish rock the Josh Nelson Project is five of the most talented performers in the United States Each musician is young Jewish and a positive role model 2009 marked the long awaited release of Lift the debut CD from the Josh Nelson Project Built upon songs of Jewish identity and continuity Lift breaks new ground with razor sharp lyricism and a progressive radio ready sound Josh serves as the music director for the URJ Biennial Convention faculty for the Havah Nashirah Music Institute and a musical artist in residence for the JCC Maccabi Artsfest Currently Josh is part of the music lyrics team penning the score for the Broadway production of Sleepless in Seattle Josh will be coming to perform at Temple Beth Am during Friday Night Service on March 25 2011

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