The 1998 Jewish Cultural Festival

New Yorker Becomes First Female Cantor to Sing in Berline Synagogue

Berlin, October 22, 1998--Signaling further change in Berlin's Progressive or Reform Judaism movement, New York's 31-year-old Rebecca Garfein will make history Nov. 16 when she becomes the first female cantor to sing in concert in a German synagogue. Cantor Garfein is musical leader of the Riverdale Temple, Riverdale, N.Y.

With Cantor Garfein's upcoming concert at Berlin's Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue, a new barrier for women will be broken. For the first time this November, Cantor Garfein will sing music from religious services, previously only sung by males. Traditionally, German synagogues separate men from women and children during Jewish religious services. Until last year, a female cantor had never sung as a concert soloist in Germany.

A participant in [In German]Judische Kulturtage or [Translated into the language of your choice]Berlin's annual Jewish Cultural Festival, Cantor Garfein will perform liturgical music of Jewish Vienna, Austria with 80-year-old Cantor Estrongo Nachama of the Jewish Congregation of Berlin. Music from the concert will include selections composed by Solomon Sulzer, Gustav Mahler, and Arnold Schoenberg. Cantor Nachama has been Cantor of the Jewish Congregation of Berlin since 1947.

Each year the Judische Kulturtage features a different look at Jewish culture in selected parts of the world. The theme for the 1998 Festival, which runs from November 11 to22, features the Jewish culture of Vienna.

During the upcoming concert, Cantor Garfein will be accompanied by the Riverdale Temple's organist Arnold Ostlund of Yonkers, New York and an eight- voice choir from Berlin's Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue.

Last November at the 1997 Berlin Jewish Cultural Festival, Cantor Garfein made history when she became the first female Cantor to sing in Germany as a concert soloist. At a concert in the former Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue, she performed Jewish liturgical music from the tradition of American Reform synagogues.

"Cantor Garfein's concerts represent a revival of Progressive Judaism in Berlin, essentially at a standstill for over 70 years," according to Dr. Andreas Nachama, president of the Jewish Community of Berlin and artistic director of the Judische Kulturtage. "With her performances in Berlin, Progressive Judaism is evolving to a new level where women are becoming actively involved in the Jewish religious service."

A digital compact disc recording of Cantor Garfein's 1997 concert will be released in Berlin November 12. Entitled "Sacred Chants of the Contemporary Synagogue," the CD features renown composers, including Kurt Weill, Max Janowski and Maurice Ravel. Cantor Garfein is accompanied on the recording by organist Arnold Ostlund of the Riverdale Temple and Berlin's Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue Choir.

Born in Saloniki, Greece in 1918, Cantor Nachama, was the sole survivor of his family when Auschwitz was liberated in 1945, following the "March of Death."

After World War II, Cantor Nachama became the model for the Jewish Cantor in Germany. He brings his Sephardic background to the Ashkenazic tradition of music. Successfully mastering both traditions, he serves as a bridge between them.

Possessing a warm, robust, baritone voice, Cantor Nachama has made numerous recordings, preserving an essential part of Cantorial tradition for future generations.

Cantor Rebecca Garfein, a native of Tallahassee, Florida, graduated cum laude from Rice University in Houston, Texas with a Bachelor of Music degree in Opera. She is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York and received the degree of Master of Sacred Music and Cantorial Investiture. In 1993, Cantor Garfein was engaged full-time by the Riverdale Temple in Riverdale, the Bronx, New York and has the distinction of being the first Cantor of the Congregation.

Cantor Garfein has appeared in numerous recitals throughout the United States, Israel and Europe.

She made her New York City debut with the New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra at Cami Hall. She has been a participant in the opera program at DiCapo Opera in New York City and at the Aspen Music Festival. Cantor Garfein was a participant in the Young Artists' vocal program at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts.