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= Synopsis =
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I’m a composer and sound artist working on a record that transforms Jewish
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Golden Age Cantorial recordings as the source for an electronic album; one that
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goes beyond conventional sampling. The project involves decomposing the source
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into partials using analysis methods, then using those partials to control
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synth parameters and be the source for spectral morphing and granular
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synthesis. This means extracting the vocal phrasing of a Chazzan — its
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envelope, its timbral contour — and applying that expressivity to a
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synthesizer, but that's just one of several techniques that I'm exploring.
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My aim is to bring cantorial music to a new generation through reinvention.
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This reflects a deeply Jewish relationship to tradition: honoring the past
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while reinterpreting it into new forms. Just as cantorial music once moved
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beyond the synagogue and found success in concert halls and on recordings, I
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hope to continue that trajectory in today’s sonic language.
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*Central Question*: How can I let this music live again — in a form that’s mine, in a language I speak — without losing its soul?
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= Philosophy =
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In the present "consensus" reality that has divorced itself from religion and philosophy and claims psychology as its new mentor, why do I engage with religion, and why specifically Judaism?
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It's been too long ago for me to remember what sparked my engagement with Judaism -- but that's not really the question worth asking, the question worth asking is why do I still continue to engage with Judaism when at any point I could choose to disengage, walk away, and forget about it? I choose to engage with Judaism, because I choose to engage with existence, not letting existence be something that just happens to me.
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To anyone that thinks religion is a relic of the practice, I'd like for them to consider that maybe religion isn't the problem, maybe it's our relationship with it.
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If someone's idea of being religious is rule-following without reason or blind faith as a test of loyalty, then maybe they should consider that if you follow rules without reason, you're not able to reason with them or adapt them to the needs of our times. This is self-oppression.
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Jewish music was never about repeating the tradition rotely, but about seeking ways to adapt it to new contexts that are relevant to us and our evolving aural pallette. Discovering ways to reimagine the tradition is the real challenge, and it's creatively demanding. This project is my engagement with Judaism.
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The first time I heard those cantorial recordings, they sounded completely alien — ancient, desperate, textured, spiritual. There’s a certain urgency in them, made more intense by the degradation of the recordings and the weight of their historical context. They’re noisy, raw, full of imperfections — and that’s part of what makes them feel sacred. I’ve never cried more to any art than I have to Golden Age Cantorial records and Yiddish literature.
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I love those records. I love that literature. I can’t let the things I love fade into obscurity if there’s anything I can do about it.
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I seek to bring this tradition to a new audience in a way that honors its texture and emotional urgency.
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