Henya Storch is a registered nurse with a Master’s degree in nursing. She is CEO of The Storch Agency International, specializing in healthcare, business and talent coaching, publicity, PR and communal outreach. Henya is a trained Performing Arts Medicine expert who has worked with artists …
Toby Klein Greenwald has founded, co-founded or directed more than 12 theater companies or educational theater projects. She is the artistic director of Raise Your Spirits Theatre (www.raiseyourspirits.org), in which capacity she has co-authored (lyrics) and directed musicals on Esther, Noah, Ruth, Deborah and the …
Esther Leah (Aviva) Marchette is a singer, songwriter and former cantor (before becoming a baalat teshuva in her early 20’s) with a B.A. in Songwriting from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and plays piano, guitar and percussion. Professionally, she has been working in the software industry for 20 years as a manager and technical program manager. She has led many large complex cross-functional programs, coordinated development and releases of new software products and IT infrastructure deployments. Esther-Leah lives in Boston with her husband where she also runs the Boston Breslov Connection, organizing events and classes relating to Breslov Chassidut. Her husband DovBer Marchette is an internationally-exhibiting contemporary visual artist and former art teacher in Jewish day schools.
Miriam Leah (Droz) Gamliel is a thought leader with a doctorate in Educational Innovation residing in Montreal, Canada. In her early career, she studied musical theatre and performed principal roles before adopting religious observance. Once observant, she became a producer and arts administrator, instrumental in …
Sarah Spielman is originally from London and made Aliya to Israel 17 years ago. When she made Aliya, she earned the “Outstanding Artist” award, the highest ranking award for a new immigrant granted by the Ministry of Absorption. Sarah received her vocal training at some …
Gayle as Deborah the Prophetess/ Photo by Rebecca Kowalsky
Gayle Berman is an internationally recognized soprano, having performed as soloist throughout North America and Europe. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, where she was a Metropolitan Opera Auditions Winner, she went on to perform leading roles with companies such as the Rome Festival Opera, Lake Geneva Opera Festival, San Antonio Opera, Boston Academy of Music and Madison Opera, as well as a soloist with Abendmusik, Choral Arts Society of New York, Chorus Pro Musica, Great Woods Festival, and with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Her operatic roles have included Violetta in La Traviata, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, the title role in Susannah, Lucy in The Telephone, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Olympia in Les Contes D’Hoffmann, Norina in Don Pasquale, Frasquita in Carmen, Nannetta in Falstaff and in Sweeney Todd. Gayle has also served on the voice faculties of numerous American colleges and universities.
Since her aliya in 2008, has continued performing and teaching, was the music director of Raise Your Spirits Theatre for their productions of Judge! Song of Deborah (in which she played the title role) and Esther & the Secrets of the King’s Court, the Revival, and is the director of Kolot Etzion, one of the top women’s choruses in Israel.
She is the author, with her husband Harold Berman, of the book Doublelife – One Family, Two Faiths and a Journey of Hope (www.doublelifejourney.com)
Bracha Daniel has been performing since she was 10, when she made her first debut in the Raise Your Spirits Theatre production of Joseph. Since then has been onstage for every RYS production and in various shows all over Jerusalem, including ones held in Beit …
Judy Winegard was classically trained in the performing arts at Ithaca College having been awarded her BFA in Drama. She has performed in musical theater for over 25 years having performed in such productions as Jekyll and Hyde, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, …
Rachel Vernon has been training and performing in modern dance since the age of four, and over the past 20 years has had the privilege of working with many of Toronto’s leading modern dancers and choreographers. Rachel has performed in various Canadian cities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Rachel is currently part of the program implementation team for an employee motivation company. Rachel is particularly thrilled to be able to connect with so many inspiring Torah-focused artists and would like to express gratitude to the organizers of ATARA for making this conference possible.
Chana Shavelson received her vocal training from Elizabeth Coss, a former principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera; Mark Aliapoulios, at the Boston University School for the Arts; and Miriam Meltzer, at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music. Chana has attended the Tanglewood Institute and appeared …
Peninnah Schram, well-known storyteller & author, is Professor of Speech and Drama at Yeshiva University’s Stern College. Vibrantly elegant in her storytelling, she tells Jewish stories of wisdom and wit. Her latest book is an illustrated anthology, THE HUNGRY CLOTHES AND OTHER JEWISH FOLKTALES (Sterling …
Ashira Morgenstern composed/released the first recording of original music by and for Jewish women in 1983 under the guidance of Rav Sheinberg of Torah Ohr and Rav Nachman Bulman. A close student of Rebbetzin Chaya Sara Freifeld, a”h, she was the founding director of Tapeynu, a girl’s yeshiva initiated by Rav Shlomo Freifeld z”l in 1978 (now the Beis Yaakov of Far Rockaway). In 1982, after immigrating to Israel, Ashira and her husband founded the Jerusalem Media Workshop, where they co-authored Lights, a network broadcast animation about Chanukah with the voice talents of Leonard Nimoy and Judd Hirsch. Awarded “Best Educational Film of the Year” by Israel’s Film Board, Lights was one of a number of live action dramas and documentaries produced at the Workshop. Ashira is presently the CEO of an educational media company, Green Field Productions, where she is developing a multi-media project for teens, sponsored by a former executive at the Disney Network. (Ashira did not ultimately attend the conference).
Leah Levy is a new up and coming filmmaker. Her films capture her struggles, adventures and fears as she journeyed into frumkite. After receiving a Bachelor’s of Art’s in Sociology from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, she came to New York and worked in music. …
Marilyn Lechtman began ballet training at Les Grand Ballet Canadienne in Montreal and continued studies in jazz and modern dance. She taught and performed for a number of years before turning her artistic expression to clothing and costume design. In 2005 she debuted her one-woman …
Tziporah Miriam Halperin, Mezzo-soprano, has appeared in concert and in a wide range of opera roles with companies around the U.S. including the Caramoor Festival, West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, Opera Theater of Connecticut, and the Sanibel Festival. Noted especially for her dramatic flair and stylistic versatility, she enjoys bringing music of all kinds to concert audiences, as well as teaching voice in her Upper West Side studio. Her website is www.singingisforeveryone.com.
Ariella Goldberg is a singer-songwriter originally from Beverly Hills, California. She tours communities in Canada and the US performing a dramatic musical program From 90210 to 613, a musical rendition of her odyssey from secular Beverly Hills to life as a Chassidic woman. As she …
Chanale Fellig is a singer, songwriter, recording artist and performer whose melodic and moving songs open the hearts and touch the spirits of women in communities everywhere. Her powerful performances excite and inspire all-female crowds in places as far as China, South America, Alaska and …
Rachel Factor is a Kollel wife and mother who makes her home in Eretz Israel. Her journey from Hawaii, where she was born, to Los Angeles and then New York as a singer, dancer and actress and finally to her home in Yerushalayim is chronicled in the acclaimed one-woman show entitled “J.A.P.” which has been touring worldwide. Her extensive experience as a professional performer for over 20 years has included 8 years on Broadway, over 40 television and print commercial clients, numerous MTV music videos, television and film appearances, and performances at the Radio City Music Hall as a World Famous Rockette. She founded a writing/performance group in New York which played to sold-out crowds, starred in several Shakespearean classics and directed plays and readings in the Off-Off Broadway realm.
Chava Schneider was born and grew up in Chelsea. Both her parents were involved in music professionally- her father taught high school music and her mother played in orchestras locally. From an early age, Chava studied choir and piano, but immediately loved guitar. She was …
Katia Bolotin, a pianist, composer, arranger and vocalist, is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and The Cleveland Institute of Music. She holds a Master’s degree in musicology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She lectures and performs both nationally and internationally. She is …
Phyllis Blackman comes from a musical family and has always been in chorales and musical groups, receiving honors for her vocal performances. She has been part of the recording groups Blue Spectra and Dubie Duke and the Duchess. Phyllis composes and sings her own music and has been hailed as the “Jewish Judy Collins” for her folk style and meaningful words. She has recently released a spiritual CD called Coming Home. Phyllis works as a matchmaker for Rebbetzin Jungreis at Hineni.
Chana Leah Yerushalmi, JUNIOR (2012) Age 12. Chana Leah’s beautiful and inspirational songs came streaming though her a week and a half before her bas mitzvah last spring. She recorded an album in a mere week and a half with original lyrics that she composed …
Malka Russell, JUNIOR (2012) loves to act, sing, and play her guitar. She had a role in the play Oliver when she was 9, and played the leading role as Joseph in an original musical school play, when she was 14. She played the evil …
Natali Polonsky, JUNIOR (2012) is a 7th grader at Yavne High School. Natali has been singing and dancing since the age of 3. Natali has been studying Ballet, jazz, and hip hop at the Creative Learning Institute of Dance and has studied voice with Katia Bolotin, Rachel Covitch and with the Kol Neshama camp in California. Natali has participated in Atara for 4 years.
Tzippa Marchette, JUNIOR (2012) is an 8th grader at New England Hebrew Academy in Boston. Involved with music from a very young age, Tzippa sings and plays piano and guitar. She has studied piano and voice with Melody Michaelson and songwriting with Esther Leah Marchette, …
Hannah Laskow, age 14, from Agouti Hills, California has been performing on stage from the age of four. Since then she has held major roles in dozens of musicals through school, camp and community theater, including Class Act and Kol Neshamah. What she loves most …
Rebecca is a 12 year-old singer, actress and dancer from Great Neck, New York. Her performance credits include the title role in the 2011 Great Neck Public School Summer Musical Theater Production of Cinderella. Additionally, she has performed in following Sid Jacobson JCC community theater productions: Grease (Rizzo), Annie (Molly) and High School Musical (Lead Dancer). Most recently, Rebecca served as MC and performed as a soloist for a benefit concert (in support of Kol Neshama), which she and her parents produced as her Bat Mitzvah Chesed Project. Rebecca and the concert were featured in an article appearing in The Great Neck News (December 9, 2011). Not just a performer, Rebecca also aspires to work in film production/editing as she spends numerous hours each week creating iMovie and You Tube videos. She welcomes performance and film apprenticing opportunities. Rebecca is currently a 7th grader at Yeshiva Har Torah in Queens, New York.
Tziona lives in Northern Israel, where she performs her moving original compositions and teaches singing, Torah, and prayer. She is a mulit-instrumentalist who plays guitar, piano, riq (a Middle Eastern tambourine), harmonium, and the Persian santur. After living in California, performing improvised music with free …
Through dance, music and Chassidism, Miriam Yerushalmi has been using art to help fix our souls. Her movements echo deep teachings from Kabbalah and Tanya, inspiring children, teenagers, and adults. She deals with themes such as serving G-d with joy, as a bride or an …
Dutch-born Yona Verwer’s paintings and photos feature Kabbalah inspired imagery. Besides solo shows in the Netherlands and New York, her work has been exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art and the Mizel Museum. Her murals are on view at the S.A.R. High School in Riverdale, NY and the Center for Jewish Discovery in NYC. Her work has been featured in the NY Times, the New Yorker, the Daily News, the Jewish Press, and the NY Jewish Week. She is the president of the Jewish Art Salon in NYC, where she organized dozens of art events and exhibits at e.g. the Flomenhaft Gallery NYC, and the Manhattan JCC. She presented at the Jewish Museum and Limmud NY. Her website: http://yonaverwer.com
Nechama Tarlow is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Music Therapist practicing in New Jersey. Although a classically trained flutist, her favorite way to make music is through improvisation, which is easily facilitated with drums and percussion instruments. Nechama trained with Arthur Hull, …
Elka Reva Sudin is a visual artist who draws inspiration from urban culture and her Jewish heritage. She founded Jewish Art Now with the aim to redefine 21st century art for the Jewish community, and received critical acclaim for her “Hipsters and Hassids” painting series. …
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Leah Sigal, who currently resides in Monsey, NY, has had a passion for music since her early childhood years. Besides being a busy housewife and mommy, Leah spends her time composing and arranging soul-stirring, heart-rending and uplifting music, drawing out the essence, holiness and inner beauty of words from the Jewish Prayer Book, the Book of Psalms and the Holy Scriptures. In addition, Leah writes her own inspirational lyrics in English, Spanish and Hebrew. To date Leah has produced two CDs, titled: “My Sister” – Songs of Encouragement, Hope and Praise, which was inspired by Rivky, her special needs daughter, and her newest release “Peace in Israel” – Yearning for Blessings and Redemption. With great excitement, she is currently working on her third album. Leah is available to sing for Women’s concerts, tea parties, fund-raisers, good-bye parties or any women’s events.
Since the age of twelve, Ilana Chava Shechter has been creating catchy, thought provoking and meaningful music. She combines personal experience and Torah insight to make music that is sure to inspire. Her songs take you on a journey of introspection and expression. These songs …
Light, color, joy, and depth define the work of Tzfat artist, Sheva Chaya Saivan. Sheva Chaya grew up in Denver, Colorado where wide open skies and the majestic Rocky Mountains inspired her to begin her career as an artist. She studied at Princeton University, majoring …
Rachael Rosenbaum sings for Jewish women. Her first solo performance was at an open mic, Girls Night On! at Makor in New York City. Since then, she has sung a capella, with a guitarist, a pianist, or her harp on several occasions, for example at a shiur given by Midreshet Be’erot Bat Ayin’s Rebbetzin, Chana Bracha Siegelbaum. She also currently sings with the Kol Isha choral group of Monsey. She studied singing for several months in group-classes under Israel’s Nomi Teplow at Michlalah Jerusalem, and has learned no small amount on the subject from Freeda Nadav, Kol Isha’s schooled and skilled director. Several years ago, Rachael was given a harp, and it has become the key to beginning to realize her deep-seated yearning to create songs to share with others. Her harp, a large, 36-string wooden lever harp, is the natural partner to her ethereal soprano voice. Together they strive to give over music that is deep, healing, and spiritually enriching. Rachael is currently birthing her first full-length recording project. Keep an eye out on her website for details: http://www.wix.com/poetgrowfruit/rachaelrosenbaum. (With G-d’s help, it should be ready for the sharing by 5773 or 4, 2012 or 13.)
Yocheved Perlman has been performing for over 15 years for Jewish women audiences all over the United States and Canada. She was fortunate to grow up amongst two very talented parents who are professional musicians. As a young girl, she studied with top vocal coaches. …
Shira Nussdorf has been performing since she was a child. She began by touring with Sol Zim’s Jewish choir as a youngster. At the age of 8 she composed her first song “Winter’s On its Way” which quickly became one of her elementary school’s official …
Nishmat HaTzafon is a Jewish women’s performing arts company designed to promote the expression of Jewish women’s artistic talent and creativity. The group creates performances that explore a specific Jewish theme. Their performances interweave dance, song, music, and Jewish text and attempt to inspire and impact audiences. Rav Lach Shevet, which literally means “you have been sitting for too long” is a Beit Midrash that incorporates movement and mediation into traditional Jewish text study. In a setting that looks more like a yoga study than a traditional study hall, Rav Lach Shevet delves into powerful and thought-provoking Talmudic tales. Through movement and textual analysis these Talmudic passages transcend the esoteric and become deeply personal and immensely contemporary. Rav Lach Shevet: Beit Midrash in Motion is a partner and outgrowth of Nishmat Hatzafon: Jewish Women’s Performing Arts Company. To contact Rav Lach Shevet and Nishmat Haztafon please visit: www.BeitMidrashInMotion.com
Eszter Margit is a writer, journalist, sociologist, art manager, healer and community organizer originally from Hungary. Her first novel, The Jewish Bride was published in 2009 in Hungary and sold out within 3 months. The book had been recently translated to English and is currently …