Table of Contents

Cantorial Organizations

The Academy of Jewish Religion
The Academy of Jewish Religion, located at 15 West 86th Street, New York, trains cantors in a Jewish pluralistic environment. Cantors are trained to "lead dynamic, spiritually uplifting, meaningful religious services in all denominational liturgies and nusach."
http://www.ajrsem.org/

Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Cantorial training: Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal has a learning program. The program, directed by Hazzan Jack Kessler, includes the full range of traditional nusach and stresses making tradition relevant in our time through the power of music and service leading skills. Also please go to www.elatchayyim.org and click on 'Davenning Leaders Training Institute' under "Training Institute", a required part of the Aleph program.
http://www.Aleph.org

**NEW**The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism
New Cantorial school which has finished its first year of teaching the art of Chazzanut. Located at the Baldwin Jewish Center in Baldwin, New York.
http://www.theascj.org

The Philip & Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music:Yeshiva University
The Belz School trains cantors and is affiliated with Yeshiva University.
http://www.yu.edu/belz/

Cantor's Assembly of United Synagogue
This site includes organizational information, articles on Jewish music, a listing of recordings and related web sites. The cantor's assembly now has an online store for selling Jewish musical resources including liturgical, choral, educational and Yiddish music scores and recordings. See the catalog.
http://www.cantors.org/sys-tmpl/door/

Cantor's World
An organization dedicated to preserving chazzonus and sponsoring concerts of cantorial music, primarily in the United States.
http://www.cantorsworld.com/

**NEW**The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America and Canada
The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America (also known as the Chazzanim Farband) is the oldest cantorial organization in America. History, news and conference information.
http://www.thejmca.org/

H.L. Miller Cantorial School: Jewish Theological Seminary
The Miller Cantorial School trains cantors in the Conservative movement.
http://www.jtsa.edu/

Hebrew College. Jewish Music Institute (JMI)& Cantor-Educator Program.
"Designed to prepare cantors who are educator-scholars as well as spiritual leaders, Hebrew College's Cantor-Educator Program combines coursework leading to both a Master of Jewish Education (MJEd) and Cantorial Ordination within a transdenominational setting." Hebrew College's program started as an accredited school with Masters and Doctoral programs in Judaic Studies and Education and 10 years ago opened the Jewish Music Institute where both para-professional and professional cantor-educators are trained. The first graduating class of Hazzanim was 2006. The Jewish Music Institute (JMI) supports "educators, cantorial soloists and other interested students" to "engage the world of Jewish music through the academic courses and certificate programs. Courses range from a historical survey of Jewish music to cantorial recitatives for the Sabbath and High Holidays, from Ashkenazic prayer chant to Yiddish and Klezmer music performance styles." In addition to materials for the study of Jewish education and general Jewish studies, the Gann Library of Hebrew College, now houses the New England division of the American Jewish Historical Society. The library is also beginning to support this new cantorial school, begun in Fall 2004. Bibliographic items include standard works such as the out-of-print classics series in synagogue music.
http://hebrewcollege.edu/html/library_1.htm

Ministres Officiants D'Alsace-Lorraine
French website on famous cantors of the region, with history, pictures and some sound clips. In 2001, Michel Heymann, cantor in Luxembourg was name President of l'Association Europienne des Ministres Officiants, an organization which specializes in Jewish liturgy for the eastern part of France and surrounding areas. Sound clips include various elements in the Ashkenaz tradition from different holidays.
http://www.sdv.fr/judaisme/histoire/rabbins/hazanim/index.htm

Rozhinke Retreat
An organization of cantors working on reclaiming the cantorial tradition for the 21st century. They hold yearly retreats with workshops and concerts intended to encourage a revival of the cantorial arts. Information about the retreats, schedules, photos and more are available on the website.
http://rozhinke.org/home.html

School of Sacred Music: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
The School of Sacred Music trains cantors for the Reform movement.
http://huc.edu/catalog/smny.html

Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute
A leading chantorial training institute in Tel Aviv, graduating cantors and ba'alei tefillah who lead services in synagogues all around the world. The choir of 30 voices is lead by Naftali Hershtik. The website features, tour dates, concerts, publications and news, although not always kept up to date.
http://www.taci.org.il/

Women Cantor's Network
"The WCN... is an open resource to any working, aspiring, or retired woman cantor who enjoys sharing, learning, singing and praying as a unique community. The WCN supports each other in struggles and to celebrate our accomplishments. WCN has grown into a membership of over 300 women and men from the U.S. and Canada. Lists the purposes of the cantor's network and information about their conferences. Contact information on the website
http://www.womencantors.net/

  

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About Cantorial Music

**NEW**Amsterdam Sephardic Chazzanut
Samples of chazzanut from the Sephard traditions in Amsterdam, this site includes sound clips from Shabbat, High Holidays, the Regalim and some minor festivals.
http://www.chazzanut-esnoga.org/

Chazzanut Online
A very comprehensive website about chazzanut, from Irwin Oppenheim in the Netherlands. This site has many features, including biographical materials on major cantors, notated nusach, a discography, a list of online archives and directories, but also a very important historic collection of scanned documents and manuscripts of famous cantors. Articles can be in German, Dutch or English. Yossele Rosenblatt's Recitatives, Sam Englander Piano Arrangements, Isaac Heymann's Psalms, and more.
http://www.chazzanut.com

Ellie's Torah Trope Tutor
Ellie Wackerman of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia, has taken the time to mount a Torah Trope tutor on the web. She provides standard Torah trope for Shabbat and holidays, including High Holy Days, the three pilgrimage Festivals (Shalosh Regalim) of Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot, and the trope for Purim. Ellie has a provided simple clear notation along with the trope.
http://www.mat.net/~ewackerm/index2.html

Leining
Another website with Torah trop, this time in electronic midi files. They also sell tapes. The website has a portion each week.
http://leining.cjb.net/

Nusach Radio
Nusach can be heard at 11am and 10pm eastern time. It is a show "dedicated to the art of the chazzanut both classical and modern." Host is Winston Weilheimer.Nusach Radio features three channels on live365.com. Included is a radio show for children. They feature 24 hour Internet radio programming in religious music, including a show of classical cantorial music on Thursdays and Sundays.
http://sites.netscape.net/nusachmaven

**NEW**Stephanie Shore's Torah Cycle
American. Cantor. songwriter. Born into a musical family with mother Rita Shore and father Ira Shore. BA Florida International University. Recorded CDs "My Soul" and "Quiet Time". Has a Purim Spiel website where various spiels can be viewed, listened to or purchased. Served as a cantor for Hillel in Miami, Florida. Currently cantor at Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton, Florida. Member of the Guild of Temple Musicians, the Cantor's Association of Florida and the Women's Cantors Network. Her website has a unique cantorial teaching area with Torah portions (broken down into a triennial cycle) and various prayers and blessings. Learners can listen to these various items online. Her website features a biography, a list of recordings and a link to the Congregation B'nai Israel website.
http://www.stephanieshore.com/

Multi-media Seder Hazanoet
A Dutch website with excerpts of cantorial singing in the Dutch tradition, the Western Sefardic Music Tradition. According to Barry Mehler, the musical director of Santo Serviço (Portuguese Synagogue Choir), the melody of Mizmor leDavid was composed on commission for the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam just after the turn of the (20th) century by Victor Schlesinger.
http://home.zonnet.nl/sondervanfrank/index.htm

Navigating the Bible II
Thanks to ORT, there is the Online Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tutor. The entire Torah, and Haftorah sections, verse by verse, are available online with sound files, Hebrew with trop, and Hebrew text as it appears in a tikkun to practice. The English translation and transliteration appear next to each text. The site is also divided by traditional reading sections of the Jewish Torah service and cycle. A section on "singing" allows the reader to learn the trop with sound files, Western notation and highlighted Hebrew text. This is a complete site for learning to chant Torah portions.
http://bible.ort.org/intro1.asp?lang=1

Navigating the Bible: Torah Notes/Haftorah Notes
An online tutorial to teach cantillation for both Torah trop and Haftorah trop. Includes the Hebrew, symbols and musical score and sound samples. This site is sponsored by World ORT Union.
http://bible.ort.org./bible/htm/perform/cantill.htm

Nusach Radio
Nusach can be heard at 11am and 10pm eastern time. It is a show "dedicated to the art of the chazzanut both classical and modern." Host is Winston Weilheimer.Nusach Radio features three channels on live365.com. Included is a radio show for children. They feature 24 hour Internet radio programming in religious music, including a show of classical cantorial music on Thursdays and Sundays.
http://sites.netscape.net/nusachmaven

Shulmusic
Shulmusic is a website devoted to music of the synagogue and all Jewish liturgical music. The aim of the site is to become a global resource for Jewish liturgical music. Musical scores for various holidays and events are provided online.
http://shulmusic.org/

**Virtual Cantor
The complete cycle of nusach for worship are here, online, and for free. Broken down into individual pieces, there are 725 different tracks to cover not only Shabbat, but the entire weekday, festival and high holiday services. If you are a person who needs to learn the nusach to lead a service, this is THE place. It's a completely easy way to find the exact passage in the siddur and follow along. Highly Recommended.
http://www.virtualcantor.com/

  

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Cantors

Chaim Adler
Cantor Adler, Cantor at the Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv, has a website with biographical information, a list of concerts with a wonderful photo gallery, and a webpage of CDs. The site is in English and German.
http://www.AdlerCh.org

Cantor Moshe (Murray) Bazian
Website devoted to the life and works of Cantor Bazian. Born in Kishinov, Bessarabia. Served Congregation Tifereth Israel in the Bronx. He later officiated at the Linas Hatzedek Synagogue and the Kingsbridge Heights Jewish Center. Moshe Bazian was Cantor at Congregation Shaarei T'filoh in Flushing. Site includes biography, pictures and mp3s of the cantor.
http://www.chazzan.org/

Marcelo Bruckman, Cantor
The cantor of the Comunidad Israelita del Uruguay has a webpage dedicated to his teachers and a vitae. In Spanish and English. He includes audio clips of cantor and choir with enjoyable melodies and arrangements.
http://www.arroba.nu/jazan/

Sylvain Elzam
Cantor Sylvain Elzam has released six CDs of music including Piyyutim, Selichos, with chazzanos for Sephardic and Ashkenazic nusach traditions. He also has recorded some songs in Ladino.
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/7468/mycd.htm

Cantor's Pages: Cantor Elihu Feldman
Cantor Elihu Feldman of synagogue B'nai Shalom in West Orange, New Jersey, has a regular monthly column, which is mounted on the synagogue's website. These columns often contain valuable information about a variety of aspects of Jewish music, not the least of which are historical pieces and brief biographical sketches of famous Jewish musicians.
http://www.uscj.org/njersey/w-orange/Cantor/cantor-mes.htm

Daniel Halfon
Cantor specializing in the Portuguese and Spanish traditions. Cantor Halfon is currently recording a set of two compact discs for a co-production of the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam and Beth Hatefutsoth - The Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, Tel Aviv . His website includes clips of the classically trained baritone. Cantor Halfon is familiar with the New York, Amsterdam, London and Yerushalmi versions of the Portuguese and Spanish liturgical musics.
http://danielhalfon.com/

Naftali Herstik
Cantor of the great synagogue in Jerusalem He studied chazzanut with his father, and with cantors Leib Glantz, Shlomo Ravitz and Moshe Kossevitzky. He later graduated from the Royal College of Music in London. He is currently director of the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute.
http://www.thecantors.com/herstik.htm

Cantor Brett Kaye
Australian. "Soloist, Musical Director and Choirmaster for the Melbourne Jewish Male Voice Choir Brett Kaye discovered his love for Jewish music at the age of 6, when he joined the Great Synagogue Choir in Durban South Africa. Ten years later, he succeeded his father as conductor of the choir, a position he held until his immigration to Melbourne in 1993. On arrival in Melbourne Brett took up the position of Musical Director of both the North Eastern Synagogue Choir and the Keren Or Choir. It was at this time that Brett commenced his formal training in operatic studies, which culminated in him winning the coveted "Lygon Street Festa Best New Voice of the Year" award sponsorship, by the then Victorian State Opera His prize was a ticket and scholarship to study opera in Italy and London. He subsequently appeared in various operatic appearances including the tenor solo in Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Sydney Opera House. Brett teaches at Mount Scopus College in Melbourne, and spent a year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, studying towards his Master's Degree in Jewish Education. It was during this time, that he studied Chazzanut under Naftali Herstik, arguably one of the greatest Cantors of all time. Brett is currently Cantor of the Central Shule in Melbourne, and Musical Director and soloist of the Melbourne Jewish Male Voice Choir and a sought after performer." Information from the Melbourne Jewish Male Choir website.

Cantor Nathan Lam
Born in Los Angeles. Studied cantorial music under Allan Michelson. By age 16, he started leading services for High Holy Days. Cantor Lam holds an Honora Causa from the Jewish Theological Seminary. As the cantor at Midway Jewish Center in New York City, he began commissioning new musical works. In 1976, Cantor Lam assumed his post at Stephen S. Wise Temple. Cantor Nathan Lam has led Stephen S. Wise Temple for over 25 years, and heads the Academy for Jewish Religion s cantorial school. Brad Sherman honored Cantor Lam as having "performed in concerts across the world, appeared on television both nationally and internationally, performed opera and sung his vast Jewish repertoire in a multitude of public appearances. He has released a number of recordings, including `Legacy,' which represents a landmark collaboration between the talents of the National Symphony of Israel and the kind of Jewish musical innovation exemplified by Cantor Lam, and other well known composers. In addition, Cantor Lam has been featured in a multitude of articles and television shows." Cantor Lam is a past international president of the Cantors Assembly and a fellow of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Benzion Miller
Cantor Miller's singing career began at age five, singing at many public gatherings, such as "Melave Malka" gatherings, Bar Mitzvahs and other Jewish functions. He acted as head soloist in the Yeshiva Choir and in solo performances. At the age of 18 Cantor Miller accepted the position as Cantor at the Hillside Jewish Center in Hillside, NJ. Benzion Miller is a graduate of Bobover Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY and the Bobover Yeshiva Kedushat Zion in Bat Yam, Israel. He received his basic knowledge and training in the art of Chazzanut under the guidance of his father, the very popular Cantor and Mohel, Reb Aaron Miller. Cantor Miller studied Music Theory and Solfege under Cantor Samuel B. Taube of Montreal. He studied voice production at the Champagne School for Music in Montreal and with Dr. Puggell, Cantor Avshalom Zfira, Allan Bowers. From Hillside, he went on to positions in the Bronx, Montreal, Toronto. He served as Cantor at Beth-El Congregation of Borough Park, now known as the Young Israel Beth-El of Borough Park, where Cantor Miller currently serves as its full time "Shliach Tzibur". "Acclaimed as one of the foremost interpreters of Liturgical Music, Benzion Miller is equally at home in Operatic Repertoire and Jewish and Chassidic Folk Music. He has appeared with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Rishon L'Tzion Symphony, the Haifa Symphony and members of the London Symphony. He recently recorded, for the Milken Archive, in Barcelona, Spain with the Barcelona National Symphony Orchestra. Benzion Miller was privileged to be among the first group of Cantors to visit and sing in the Eastern European countries. He has appeared before capacity audiences in Romania, Russia, Poland and Hungry, where he sang with the Budapest State Opera Orchestra.Benzion has to his credit many recordings of liturgical, Chassidic and Yiddish music." This essay is based upon information from the website "Cantors: A Faith in Song"
http://www.thecantors.com/miller.htm

cantor alberto mizrachiAlberto Mizrachi
Alberto Mizrachi is now a world famous cantor and premiere interpreter of Jewish song. He's often called the "Jewish Pavarotti". He is cantor at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago. He concertizes all over the world, sings in nine languages, and has appeared in most of the major venues of the world. He's recorded with the Milken project, been on PBS, and appeared in large concert stages. I first met the cantor, (then known as Abraham Mizrachi), in Cincinnati, as a graduate student when he hired me to be a song leader in a part time job at a local temple where he was cantor. It was there he gave me a gift set of the Coopersmith books The Songs We Sing and The More Songs We Sing and said "here, learn these". He was also the first person to introduce me to the music of Miriam Gideon, which I have appreciated for over 30 years. You can read all about his life and accomplishments on his website, which also includes a travel schedule, photos and contact information. With Alberto Mizrachi, a little bit goes a long ways, and he's got a lot more than a little bit to give.
http://www.albertomizrahi.com/index.htm

Benjamin Muller
Benjamin Muller is the Chief Chazzan of the Jewish community of Antwerp, Belgium. His website has his personal history, links to a CD page which has excerpts of the music. You have to click on the small bars below the titles. (Each bar is it's own set of play/pause/stop buttons.) He also has some interesting histories of the great cantors with small clips. A very intersting "right and wrong" nusach combinations pages (using the metaphor of stoplights for "right" and "wrong" combinations) is a small teaching tool.
http://www.benjaminmuller.com

David Propis
Canadian born. Cantor at Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas. A producer of a series of CDs for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the Cantors Assembly, entitled "The Spirit Series." Website includes information about his CD The Three Jewish Tenors, Live!.
http://www.davidpropis.com/biography.html

Cantor Dr. Ramon Tasat
Born in Buenos Aires, Cantor Dr. Ramón Tasat learned Ladino, the language of the Sephardic people, at his grandmother's knee; his style reflects the rich history and drama of this extraordinary culture. Trained in five different countries, he received a doctorate in voice performance from the University of Texas at Austin. His doctoral dissertation is entitled The Cantillations and Religious Poems of the Jews of Tangier, Morocco. Cantor Tasat has toured Europe with world-renowned Dr. Robert Shaw and has participated in international festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. Dr. Tasat has appeared in numerous opera productions including Le Nozze di Figaro, All Impressario, and La Traviata, and has drawn worldwide critical as well as audience acclaim. After attending Ramón s Cantata Ebraica concert, Rabbi Samuel Weintraub remarked, "Ramón Tasat is a gem. He sings with passion and true bel canto technique. I was also impressed by the seamless weaving of the operatic and Jewish liturgical traditions." His most notable appearances include the Kennedy Center Concert Hall; the Israeli Embassy; the Jewish Music Festival of Berkeley, California; Saint Cére, France; Siena, Italy; Helsinki, Finland; Barcelona, Spain; and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.In addition to television and radio appearances, Dr. Tasat has been the recipient of numerous awards including First Place at the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center's Recital Competition and a National Endowment of the Arts Grant. Dr. Tasat's lectures, workshops, and programs range from The Music of Modern Israel to Echoes of Sepharad. Ramón's numerous recordings include Fiesta Sefarad, Trees cry for rain, Teshuva, and his most recent, Kantikas di amor i vida, a series of Sephardic duets together with the celebrated singer Flory Jagoda. He has published several music books on Jewish subjects. Ramón Tasat is the Cantor of Temple Shalom, musical advisor of the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Music Festival, board member of the American Friends of Neot Kedumim and the president of Shalshelet: The Foundation for New Jewish Liturgical Music.
http://www.ramontasat.com