"The Blessing of Life and Jerusalem: Songs of Gratitude and Joy"
The Annual Max and Florence Minsky Concert at HUC-JIR

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
One West 4th Street (between Broadway and Mercer Street)
New York City

The annual Max and Florence Minsky Concert at HUC-JIR features the School of Sacred Music's faculty, including Cantors Israel Goldstein, Jack Mendelson, Bob Abelson, Martha Novick, Merri Arian, Benjie Ellen Schiller, Joseé Wolff, Faith Steinsnyder accompanied by Artist-in Residence Joyce Rosenzweig. This concert is an opportunity to enjoy an eclectic array of solo works and ensemble pieces by a variety of Jewish composers, including Yehezkel Braun, Ami Aloni and Eduard Birnbaum.

For 2000 years, the cantor has served the Jewish people as leader of prayer, as composer of liturgical poetry and song, and as educator and communal leader.  Today, the cantor is part of a professional synagogue team working to enhance Jewish life.  As a calling and career, the cantorate continues "to wed the worlds of spirit and art."

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion established the School of Sacred Music in 1948 as the Reform Movement's only institution for the training of cantors.  Created at a time when the Holocaust threatened the continuity of Jewish heritage, the SSM has flourished as a center dedicated to preserving, enhancing, and creating Jewish music.

This concert has been made possible through the generous support of The Max and Florence Minsky Music Fund.  Continuing a tradition of supporting the College-Institute, Florence Minsky Goldstein established the fund in 1994 in memory of her beloved husband, Max Minsky.  Additional support has been made by Central Synagogue (Cantor Jordan Franzel) Baltimore Hebrew Congregation (Cantor Judith Rowland) The Jewish Center of the Hamptons (Cantor Debra Stein) Congregation Emanu-El (Cantor Ros Barak) Temple beth Elohim (Cantor Jodi Sufrin) Temple Beth Am (Cantor Rachelle Nelson) Temple Emanu-El (Cantor Scott Colbert) Congregation Chaye Olam, Franklin Village, MI (Cantor Stephen Dubov)

For further information, please contact: Jocelyn Nixon, 212-824-2279.

Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors and educational and communal professionals and offers graduate and post-graduate degree programs to scholars of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources are comprised of renowned library, archive, and museum collections, biblical archaeology excavations and academic publications. HUC-JIR invites the community to an array of cultural and educational programs that illuminate Jewish history, identity and contemporary creativity and foster interfaith and multi-ethnic understanding.