Marvin Hamlisch: EGOT Award-Winning Composer for TV, Broadway Stage, and Silver Screen
He was one of only 16 EGOT winners, meaning he garnered Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. He was one of only two people…
Kosha Dillz: The World’s Only Rapper Who Is Named After Pickles and Raps About Bagels!
Although many in the… uh… older crowd might question characterizing rapper Kosha Dills (and perhaps all rappers) as performing “music,” it is undeniable that rap and hip hop have a huge fan base. Thirty-nine year old Dillz (birth name Rami Matan Even-Esh) is the son of Israeli immigrants to the U.S. Although he rhymes in…
Carole King: Legendary Singer/Songwriter for Six Decades, With 118 ‘Billboard’ Pop Hits!
Active on the music scene since 1958. Wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits on the Billboard “Hot 100.” Made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry. Record sales estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. Winner of four Grammy Awards. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall…
Stephen Sondheim: Perhaps the Greatest Figure in American Musical Theater History
Stephen Sondheim (90) is considered to be one of the all-time greats — perhaps the all-time great — of the American musical theater. His best-known works as composer and lyricist include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,…
Ivy Gitlis: Israeli Virtuoso Violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Dies at Age 98
Renowned Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis passed away on Dec. 24, 2020 at age 98. He died in Paris, where he had lived since the late 1960s. Over his very long and prolific career, Gitlis performed with many of the world’s premier symphony orchestras, but he also played with rock stars and jazz bands. In 1990,…
Female Cantors: Raising Beautiful Voices in Song and Prayer
Some 65 years ago, the idea of women serving as cantors in temples and synagogues seemed fanciful. In 1955, reportedly, Betty Robbins because the first female cantor in the U.S. In 1975, Barbara Ostfeld became the first woman to be ordained as a female cantor. Today, a great many female cantors serve in Reform and…
Michael Tilson Thomas: Beloved Conductor, Composer, and Pianist
Conductor, compsr, and pianist Michael Tilson Thomas (75) has had an illustrious decades-long career in music. He was the longtime music director of the San Francisco Symphony and the conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is the artistic director of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach. Tilson…
George Gershwin: Brilliant Composer of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’
Revered composer and pianist George Gershwin (Sept. 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) made enormous contributions to both American popular and classical music. Some of his best-known works are Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928); the songs “Swanee” (1919) and “Fascinating Rhythm” (1924); the jazz standard “I Got Rhythm” (1930); and…
Cantor Azi Schwartz: The Prayer ‘Adon Olam’ Set to a Song from ‘Hamilton’
Azi Schwartz, Senior Cantor at the Conservative Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, is a renowned vocal performer and recording artist whose music reaches both Jewish and interfaith audiences internationally. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Madison Square Garden, the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, and the Israeli Knesset. Cantor Schwartz has debuted…
Debbie Friedman: Her Beautiful Religious Songs Move and Inspire
Deborah “Debbie” Friedman (z”l), Feb. 23, 1951 – Jan. 9, 2011, was a beloved singer-songwriter of Jewish religious songs. Hundreds of Jewish congregations in America -– Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, and even some Orthodox — have incorporated her music into their prayer services. Friedman was a feminist and a lesbian. She died from cancer at…
To learn about these and many more AmazingJews, watch a compilation put together by JewOfTheWeek.net in 2015 and posted on YouTube.