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Biographies for 2015 Executive Board Election:
Cantor Lauren Bandman has served Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, California
since 2006. In November 2010, she was honored to be selected as one of 20 cantors to
travel to Rome to perform the first-ever concert of Jewish music at the Vatican - the
highlight of a conference on Jewish-Catholic relations. She and her colleagues reprised
a large portion of this concert at the URJ National Biennial in Washington D.C.
(December, 2011). Cantor Bandman is co-creator and performer of Love's Journey, a
one-woman show of musical theatre and American standards that tells of a woman's
journey through life and love. In addition to several synagogue musical compilations including 2014's A
Sanctuary in Time: Erev Shabbat at Congregation Beth Am, Cantor Bandman can also be heard on A
Collection of Soulful Jewish Melodies: Nigun Anthology -- Volume I (Transcontinental Music
Publications), as well as a cameo on Shifreles Portret: A Yiddish Art Song Project. Cantor Bandman has
been a member of the Commission on Worship, Music and Religious Living since 2010. She was co-chair
of the 2014 ACC/GTM Convention in Israel and was recently ACC Volunteer of the Month. Cantor
Bandman is delighted for the opportunity to continue to serve the ACC.
Cantor Joshua Breitzer is cantor and music director of Congregation Beth Elohim in
Brooklyn and the founding conductor of HaZamir Brooklyn, a chapter of HaZamir:
The International Jewish High School Choir. A mid-Michigan native, he attended
Interlochen Arts Camp and holds voice degrees from the University of Michigan and
the New England Conservatory. Prior to receiving ordination at HUC-JIR in 2011 and
eventually joining the adjunct faculty there, Josh presented a graduate thesis on
the sacred vocal works of Jack Gottlieb, with whom he worked closely during the
last months of the composer's life. Josh has served several years as co-chair of the
DFSSM Alumni Association Recruitment Working Group and as a delegate to the Joint Commission on
Worship, Music and Religious Living. In addition to sitting on the External Membership and Fundraising
committees, he co-wrote a history of the ACC for the 60th Anniversary Journal and helped conceive and
conduct the 2013 ACC-GTM convention concert in Minneapolis. He and his wife Donna, a mezzosoprano and arts administrator, make a home in the Park Slope neighborhood with their young sons
Jonah and Gideon.
Cantor Deborrah Cannizzaro received her Cantorial Certification from the Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, in
June, 2009. She currently serves Congregation Schaarai Zedek, in Tampa, Florida, and
was previously the Cantor at Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to
entering the Cantorate, she was a successful concert recitalist and opera singer,
performing with, among others, the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, Kol Zimrah -The Jewish Community Singers of Chicago, and Southwest
Florida Symphony Orchestra. Deborrah has facilitated classes at ACC conventions, and
written for the Notes Worth Knowing segment on the ACC website. She is the Treasurer of the Bay Area
Cantors Association and lives with her two sons in Tampa, Florida. Deborrah's secret musical passion is
music from the 20s, 30s and 40s, and she is a founding member of the Cantorettes. A female singing trio
comprised of three cantors from the area, the Cantorettes enjoys performing music of the "Swing Era"
for Jewish and synagogue groups around the Tampa Bay area.
Cantor Barbara Margulis has been a member of the American Conference of Cantors
since her investiture in 1985, and a member of the ACC Board of Trustees since
2005. She served as chair of the Joint Cantorial Placement Commission (JCPC) from
2008 through 2013. She chaired the convention registration committee in 2008, 2011
and 2012. In 2010, she co-chaired the Memphis convention. She now serves as ACC
Convention Coordinator. A statement by Barbara: "I'd like to see more cantors
participate in the opportunities the ACC provides to enhance our professional skills.
Participation in conventions and programming provide a wonderful opportunity to
connect and interact with colleagues and friends. I'm looking forward to encouraging
more cantors to be actively involved in our conference and benefitting from our programming. To reach
this goal, I plan to widen and strengthen my relationships not only with other members of the ACC
Board, but also with cantors in the field. It is just as important to make the ACC aware of what cantors in
the field are thinking and needing as it is to make these cantors aware of what the ACC has to offer, and
how they can get involved. I look forward to seeing everyone in Fort Lauderdale (June 28-July 2)!"
Cantor Tracey Scher is a mezzo-soprano from Nova Scotia, Canada. She has
performed lead and supporting opera roles in Canada, Baltimore, New York and
England. Cantor Scher has also performed major oratorio works with orchestras in the
northeastern United States. Cantor Scher's education includes a Master of Sacred
Music Degree from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York
City, a Graduate Degree in Opera Performance from Peabody Conservatory of Johns
Hopkins University, a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from Acadia University in
Nova Scotia and extended study with the world-renowned tenor Carlo Bergonzi at the
Accademia Verdiana in Busetto, Italy. Cantor Scher served as the Cantor at Temple Beth Or in
Washington Township, New Jersey from 2003-2007 and at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, VA.
from 2008-2013. She presently serves as Cantor at Larchmont Temple in NY. Cantor Scher has served on
the Board of the American Conference of Cantors for seven years. She presently is the ACC co-Chair of
the Membership Committee. Cantor Scher is married to Christopher Lewis and they have two children,
Isaac and Maya.
Cantor Kerith Spencer-Shapiro is the senior cantor at University Synagogue in
Los Angeles, CA . She received her cantorial ordination and masters of sacred
music from the HUC-JIR, DFSSM in 2003. She previously served Temple
Sholom in Broomall, PA and Congregation Adas Emuno, Leonia, NJ. Kerith's
was the first female voice to be heard at the Eldridge Street Synagogue in New
York City. She has also appeared in concert at Town Hall and Symphony Space
in New York City; Beit Daniel, Tel Aviv, Israel; The Basilicia of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in
Rome, Italy; and at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has also been a
leader in interfaith dialogue through Saint Joseph's University Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations and
Sacred Heart University's Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding. She has been a guest lecturer at
the Hebrew Union College, New York University's Ireland House and Trinity College in Dublin.
Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, she graduated with a B.A. in English from Macalester
College in St Paul, Minnesota, and then pursued further study at the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies
and Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Kerith's volunteer work for the ACC has included fundraising and development, JCPC, VP of membership
and external partnerships, strategic visioning, and the ethics committee.
Kerith is married to Dr. Scott Spencer, an academic trained in ethnomusicology, whose work focuses on
intersections of oral tradition and digital technology. They live in Brentwood with their two children, Zev
and Frances.
Cantor Seth Warner, originally from Southern California, earned his Bachelor's
degree from the University of Redlands and his Master of Sacred Music degree
from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred
Music in Jerusalem and New York. Receiving his Cantorial Investiture from the
same institution, he earned several awards in vocal excellence. He has served
two synagogues with distinction during his career. First he served the historic
Touro Synagogue in New Orleans, weathering Hurricane Katrina and producing
Touro's Jazz Fest Shabbat to high acclaim. Working with musicians Ellis Marsalis
and Jeremy Davenport, Cantor Warner collaborated to bridge jazz and the music
of synagogue in a spiritually fulfilling way. He now proudly serves Congregation Shaare Emeth in St.
Louis. As an integral part of the clergy team, he oversees the Congregation's music and worship
agendas, leads the B'nei Mitzvah program in addition to his pastoral care and other congregational
duties. He serves the community as a chaplain for first responders in the greater St. Louis metropolitan
area and is a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management Team (CISM). He is an active member
of the American Conference of Cantors, has served as an officer on its Executive Board. Seth and his
wife, Shayna, are the proud parents of two boys.