About the Artists

Cantor Rebecca Garfein, mezzo-soprano, is the Senior Cantor of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City, and is the first female Cantor ever to hold this position.  Cantor Garfein has appeared in numerous recitals throughout the United States, Israel, and Europe.

In 1997, Cantor Garfein was invited to participate in the Jewish Cultural Festival in Berlin, Germany and was the first female Cantor to give a solo concert in the same city her grandfather of blessed memory fled. At the 1998 Berlin Jewish Cultural Festival, she became the first female Cantor to preside in a German synagogue, and released a CD of the live recording of the 1997 Berlin concert, "Sacred Chants of the Contemporary Synagogue."

On  November 10, 2005 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, Cantor Garfein presented the concert and historic CD debut of "Golden Chants in America...Commemorating 350 years of Jewish Music, 1654-2004," Including music from the Spanish-Portuguese Jews, the synagogue and the Yiddish and Broadway theater, the CD is the first U.S. recording to feature Jewish music spanning 350 years of life in America.

Cantor Garfein is also a featured soloist on two recordings from the Sacred Music Press, Celebrating the Past and Present, honoring the 50th anniversary of the School of Sacred Music, 1999, and Kol Sasson Kol Simcha, a commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 2001.

A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Cantor Garfein has been a featured soloist with the Ra-a-na-na Orchestra and the Zamir Chorale at the Jerusalem Theater in Israel and in 2001 was a soloist at the 350th anniversary concert of the Curacao Jewish Community.

Cantor Garfein made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 with Mandy Patinkin in a benefit concert for the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater.  In 2003, Cantor Garfein made her debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in a concert celebrating the release of Dr. Ruth Westheimer's book, "Musically Speaking." She has been a participant in the opera program at DiCapo Opera in New York City and at the Aspen Music Festival.  As a teenager, Cantor Garfein was a participant in the Young Artists' vocal program at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts.

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).

About the Artists ... Golden Chants in America

Jonathan Faiman; pianist, arranger, co-producer

A multiple ASCAP award winner, Jonathan Faiman was described in The New York Times as "a pianist with the kind of technique that affords remarkable clarity even in the speediest lines."

Critically acclaimed, his solo CD, Hie Up The Mountain, has been called "a major contribution to the available body of music by the generation now making its mark in American music". He is a member of the Locrian Chamber Players and The Actors Company Theatre, with whom Mr. Faiman has composed and performed for numerous concerts and productions. Some of this music can be heard on Play On: Music for The Actors Company Theatre, a CD for which Mr. Faiman was executive producer. Soon another CD will be released, featuring Mr. Faiman's work as pianist and producer, of music by Nils Vigeland performed by members of Locrian.

Mr. Faiman made his orchestral conducting debut with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed concertos, solo recitals, and chamber music concerts with The Ambrosia Trio and other musicians throughout North America and in Israel. In New York City, Mr. Faiman has performed extensively in most major halls, including Avery Fisher, Florence Gould, Merkin, Miller Theatre, Symphony Space, and Weill/Carnegie Recital Hall. He is also much sought-after in the world of Jewish music and has performed in synagogues throughout North America.

Mr. Faiman's commissions include Ian Hobson and the Sinfonia da Camera, Michael Mao Dance, and the Mirage Theatre Company.

Mr. Faiman has taught at Concordia College and is on the faculty of Bloomingdale School of Music and the Preparatory Division of Manhattan School of Music, from where he holds a Doctorate.

For more information, please visit www.jonathanfaiman.com.

About the Artists ... Sacred Chants of the Contemporary Synagogue

Arnold Ostlund, Jr., the son of a Lutheran clergyman, began piano studies at age 7; organ at age 9; played his first religious service at age 11; and by 13 was directing an adult choir. After study with Fredrick Swann, (Director and Organist of the Crystal Cathedral), on the famed organ at New York's Riverside Church, he earned his undergraduate degree under full scholarship at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. While at Curtis, he majored in organ with Dr. Alexander McCurdy; minored in piano with Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff; won the prestigious Young Artist Award; and toured many of Europe's most famous organs. Graduate study with M. Searle Wright at Columbia University followed. He is active in the New York City area as an organist, recitalist, and accompanist. His organ playing is featured in the film, Godfather III. He is currently the organist at Riverdale Temple, Riverdale, New York, and Director of Music and organist at Greenville Community Reformed Church, Scarsdale, New York.