More About High Holiday Leader Jonathan Angress

Jonathan led his first service when he was 14 years old at Beth Torah under the direction of Cantor Yehuda Rottner. Cantor Rottner began teaching him how to read Torah, Haftorah, Eicha and Megillat Esther and how to lead services for Weekdays, Shabbat, Festivals, and High Holidays. On Jonathan’s Bar-Mitzvah, he read the entire Torah portion, Haftorah, and sang the Musaf service as a duet with Cantor Rottner. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Beth Torah Youth Choir and sang with them for 4 years. At 16 years old, Jonathan became the resident choir arranger and conductor which entailed arranging the music for the choir and conducting rehearsals for the choir. In addition to his choir duties, he also filled in for Cantor Rottner when he was sick or out of town. From the time Jonathan was 15 until he was 17, he sang High Holidays with Cantor Rottner and a professional choir named The Interlude. He was a featured soloist in that ensemble. Cantor Rottner hosted several Cantorial Concerts where Jonathan was featured as a guest soloist singing one famous cantorial masterpiece per concert. He has sung in concert with cantors such as Yaakov Motzen, Chaim Adler, Avi Albrecht, Yitzhak Helfgot, Naftali Herstik, Netanel Herstik, Daniel Gildar, Lipa Glantz, Benjamin Warchawski, Ben Tzion Miller, Yitzhak Zrebker, and Israel Rand. In the summer of 2006, Jonathan traveled to Pennsylvania for a one week private master class in cantorial singing, nusach, opera, and voice with Cantor Daniel Gildar. He also had the honor and privilege to study under the world renown cantor and tenor, Cantor Louis Danto.

Jonathan was also a member of the Hillel Community Day School choir under the direction of Marlena Tuchinsky with whom he studied voice and cantorial singing for 3 years and was a featured soloist in her choir. Mrs. Tuchinsky is the daughter of the world renown cantor, composer, and choir director Abraham Nadel. He sang cantorial masterpieces with her choir as well.

In 2005, Jonathan received a very flattering offer to attend, upon graduating high school, the Tel-Aviv Cantorial Institute in Israel under the direction of the Chief Cantor of Tel Aviv, Cantor Naftali Herstik. However, he decided to pursue an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Music at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

Starting in 2004, Jonathan began leading the Shacharit service for Rosh Hashanah and the Mincha service for Yom Kippur. He has led those two services every year since.  In 2006, Cantor Rottner moved to Israel and upon his leaving, Cantor Moshe Schulhof became the cantor for High Holidays 2006. Jonathan directed the choir for Cantor Schulhof in addition to singing many duets and solos with him. He also had the pleasure of studying cantorial singing and nusach privately with Cantor Schulhof. Shortly after the High Holidays, Jonathan began to do the service on Saturday mornings twice a month for each Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration as well as Festivals which included the Yizkor Service. Jonathan has held this position for nearly two years. For High Holidays 2007, Cantor Steven Texon assumed the pulpit and Jonathan directed the choir and sang duets with him in addition to leading Shacharit and Mincha. For the past year, he has been studying improvisational cantorial singing with Cantor Texon. On his down time, Jonathan has served as a guest cantor with Cantor Julie Jacobs at Beth David Congregation in Coral Gables and opposite Rabbi Jory Lang at Temple Beth Moshe in North Miami. Jonathan has led services for the Conservative Minyan at the Hillel House at the University of Miami, ChabadUM of Coral Gables with Rabbi Mendy Fellig, and the Jewish Collegiate Learning exchange with Rabbi Shlomo Sprung. He is also one of the founding members of the Miami Jewish Chorale, a Jewish community choir which began in 2007.

Jonathan has also played violin and/or sang at community events including Israel Defense Force Fundraisers, The Greater Miami Jewish Federation Fundraisers, Bar Ilan University Fundraisers, and Jewish Community Center’s Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron services.

Jonathan received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Judaic Studies from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He is currently a student at the H. L. Miller Cantorial School of The Jewish Theological Seminary where he will receive his cantorial ordination and a Masters in Sacred Music.

Jonathan is planning to become a cantor and a music educator/director in the near future and he believes that acquiring the experience of leading services at a young age is a vital component to becoming a cantor.