Voices of Change: 50 Years of Women in the American Cantorate

Barbara Jean Ostfeld is the first woman ordained as a cantor. After her historic ordination in 1975, she served Congregation Beth El in Great Neck, New York (1976–1988), Temple B'rith Kodesh in Rochester, New York, (1988–1990) and Temple Beth Am (now Congregation Shir Shalom) in Buffalo, New York (1990–2002), and as the placement director for the American Conference of Cantors (2002–2012). Acknowledgements of her professional success include an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Debbie Friedman Award from the Union for Reform Judaism. Visit her official website to learn more.

Cantor Interview

Deborah Katchko-Gray is a fourth-generation cantor and the second woman to serve as cantor in the Conservative movement. She founded the Women Cantors' Network in 1982 and served for 25 years at Congregation Shir Shalom (of Westchester and Fairfield Counties) in Connecticut She has made ten recordings, published two books, and received the 2020 Debbie Friedman "Miriam" Award from the Cantors Assembly.

Emma Lutz is the senior cantor at Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles. She received her Master of Sacred Music degree from  the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Prior to joining the cantorate, Cantor Lutz worked as a soloist and teacher for synagogues throughout the Bay Area in California and was also a performer with numerous theatre companies.

One of the first female cantors ordained in Conservative Judaism, Erica "Riki" Lippitz is a celebrated cantor who has received many awards, including the Yehudah Mandel Humanitarian (2013), the Hazzan Moshe Nathanson Award for Conducting (2018) and the Yuval Award (2018). Prior to joining the cantorate, she earned a master’s degree in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University. Cantor Lippitz is also a co-founder of the Kol Dodi Chorale of Greater MetroWest (New Jersey). She served as a cantor of Oheb Shalom in South Orange, New Jersey for 34 years. 

Nancy Abramson is the former director of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) where she trained future cantors in prayer, nusaḥ and religious leadership, and oversaw the school's curriculum development in Jewish education and teaching, pastoral care, and modern Israel. She was also a past president of the Cantors Assembly and was the first female president in the Assembly's history. She received her cantorial education at JTS and earned a master's degree in Music Education from Teachers College at Columbia University..

Vera Broekhuysen serves Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley in Massachusetts as cantor. In June 2016, she was ordained by Hebrew College and also earned her master’s degree in Jewish Education. She was a member of the Greater Haverhill Clergy Association, a founding member of the Merrimack Valley Sanctuary Network, and is a member of the steering committee of the Boston T’ruah cluster.  

An internationally acclaimed recording and concert artist, Faith Steinsnyder has served as cantor and director for synagogues across the country. She has taught at New York City's Jewish Theological Seminary, the Academy for Jewish Religion, and  presently serves on the faculty of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Cantor Steinsnyder was also a soloist at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and was featured in the documentary film about the Cantors Assembly’s historic trip to Poland, "100 Voices: A Journey Home."

Judith S. Pinnolis is a librarian, musicologist, writer and international speaker on Jewish music. She currently works as Associate Director, the Libraries, at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Previously she was Humanities Librarian, Brandeis University for 22 years. Pinnolis is currently Chair of the New England Music Library Association (NEMLA). Previously, she served as Chapter President of the Association of College and Research Libraries/ New England Chapter (ACRL/NEC), Chapters Chair of ACRL, web editor of the Music Library Association (MLA) and headed the MLA Jewish Music Roundtable for 13 years. She is Reviews Editor of Western States Jewish History, serves on the Klezmer Institute Archive Advisory Board and helped spearhead the Cantorial and Synagogue Music Archive with Cantors Austerklein and Gole. She taught Jewish musicology at Hebrew College’s School of Sacred Music for 11 years and has given presentations on Jewish music internationally. Recent publications include "Jewish Music Sound Recording Collections in the US" in the Oxford Handbook of Jewish Music Studies; the introductory essay for the Kol B’Seder Anthology; scholarly articles on women cantors in the Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women for the Jewish Women’s Archive; scholarly articles in Encyclopedia Judaica; Women and Music in America Since 1900; American Jewish Archive Journal; and Musica Judaica. Since 1998, she has run The Jewish Music WebCenter, an online resource of information about Jewish music. Her newest projects include an introductory historical essay for an anthology of choral music by women cantor-composers (forthcoming); and an exhibition on the history of women cantors (forthcoming, 2025).