CANTOR SIMON ANNOUNCES BAT YAM’S FUND RAISING EVENT IN FEBRUARY

​

Meet “The Pastor” in “Three Cantors and a Pastor”

 

On February 24 at 4:00 p.m., we will be treated to a musical afternoon titled “Sanibel Celebration: Three Cantors and a Pastor.” The singers will be the Rev. Dr. John H. Danner, senior pastor of SCUCC, Bat Yam’s host church; Cantor Randy Herman of Bet Tora in Mt. Kisco, New York; Cantor Elizabeth Shammash of Tiferet Bet Israel in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; and Cantor Murray Simon. Toby Simon will be the piano accompanist. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

 

 

Cantors Herman and Shammash were featured in past issues of Bat Yam Matters. The special pastor guest singer is our host church’s senior pastor,

 

the Rev. Dr. John H. Danner. Rev. Danner began his tenure at SCUCC in January of 2010. Prior to coming to Sanibel, he served churches in the Northeast, most recently in Westport, Connecticut. Ordained in 1980, John has degrees from Bradford College (where his concentration was in theater), the University of Maine, Bangor Theological Seminary, and Boston University.

 

John studied voice at Bradford with Barbara McCloskey and has performed with a variety of choral groups and in many recitals. He has directed productions of Godspell, Man of LaMancha, and Carnival, among several other musicals and plays. He has written several children’s musicals. He has had articles published in The Christian Century and other periodicals and is a contributor to three published collections of liturgical and devotional resources. He is a weekly blogger; his posts can be seen at www.periwinkleponderings.blogspot.com. He is also a reviewer with Speakeasy.

 

 

He is married to Linda Bradbury-Danner, and they have three children and a stable of grandchildren.

 

 

CANTOR SIMON ANNOUNCES BAT YAM’S FUND RAISING EVENT IN FEBRUARY

​

On February 24, 2019 at 4:00 p.m., we will be treated to a musical afternoon titled “Sanibel Celebration: Three Cantors and a Pastor.” The singers will be the Rev. Dr. John H. Danner, senior pastor of SCUCC, Bat Yam’s host church; Cantor Randy Herman, Bet Torah, Mt. Kisco, New York; Cantor Elizabeth Shammash, Tiferet Bet Isrel, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; and Cantor Murray Simon. Toby Simon will be the piano accompanist. Don't Miss this Extraordinary Event!!

 

One guest cantor, Elizabeth Shammash, was profiled in the November issue of Bat Yam Matters. Cantor Randy Herman is the other guest cantor. Descended from performing vaudevillian grandparents on one side and Eastern European orthodox Jews on the other, Cantor Herman seemed destined to integrate the worlds of musical performance and Judaism.

 

CANTOR HERMAN IS THE SON OF BAT YAM CONGREGANTS BLUMA AND DONALD

 

HERMAN. He was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan,

 

majoring in theater and psychology.  As a pianist, singer and songwriter, he has performed

throughout the U.S. and abroad in nightclubs and festivals, at private events, and on live radio, and

has worked extensively as a studio musician.

 

Cantor Herman spent a year of study in Jerusalem, and he received his cantorial investiture and Masters of Sacred Music from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City in 2008. For the last decade, he has served full time at Bet Torah in Mt. Kisco, N.Y (Northern Westchester), and has recently completed a CD of original songs,  “Moving Through Time.” He married Nicole in 2016; their daughter Kaya was born this past April.

​

​

Repeated from the November  Bat Yam Matters

​

On February 24, 2019, at 4:00 p.m., we will be treated to a musical afternoon titled “Sanibel Celebration: Three Cantors and a Pastor.” The singers will be the Rev. Dr. John H. Danner, pastor of SCUCC, Bat Yam’s host church; Cantor Randy Herman of Bet Torah in  Mt. Kisco, New York; Cantor Elizabeth Shammash of Tiferet Bet Israel in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; and Cantor Murray Simon. Toby Simon will be the piano accompanist. Don't Miss this Extraordinary Event!!

 

In a future issue of Bat Yam Matters, Cantor Simon will share the bio of Randy Herman. For now, he would like to introduce you to his dear friend, Cantor Elizabeth Shammash.

 

The daughter of a mother with roots in Latvian Jewry and a Baghdad-born father of Babylonian Jewish tradition who emigrated to America in 1947, Cantor Shammash feels the proud inheritance of two rich Jewish lineages. She has served Tiferet Bet Israel since 2007 and enjoys sharing her passion and calling with congregants of all ages, in music of diverse genres, connecting them to our rich liturgical and cultural tradition.

 

Prior to entering Jewish Theological Seminary in 2004, in her career in opera and concerts she worked with companies including New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Sarasota Opera, Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, and the Beijing

 

Music Festival. Her symphonic appearances included the Israel Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra. Last season’s highlight was a Yiddish Liederabend at YIVO in New York City, and this season brings a Leonard Bernstein 100th birthday concert at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, presented jointly by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Lyric Fest, with Jamie Bernstein as narrator.

 

Cantor Shammash has also recorded extensively for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. She holds degrees from Brown University, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University Opera Institute, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She proudly makes Philadelphia her

home with her husband, David, and rescue dog, Lenny (after Cantor Elizabeth Shammash

Bernstein, of course).

​

​

​

​