Cantorial Collection

Listen to Cantorial Recordings | View the Judaic Collection | Search for Cantorial Recordings


Mission

The Judaica Sound Archives began in 2002 with the mission to establish a collection of Judaic sound recordings, defined as: Cantorial/liturgical recordings, Yiddish-language recordings, Israeli recordings, recordings reflecting the American-Jewish experience, and recordings by important Jewish performers, composers and conductors.

Cantorial Collection

Today, the RSA’s Judaic Collection is the largest online collection of Jewish music in the world with close to 116,000 identified song tracks. While Cantorial music accounts for less than 10% of the entire Judaic Collection, it accounts for almost a third of the music streamed on the website. The reason for this is the wonderful support and cooperation by the families of legendary cantors of the past and also cantors who are currently recording their music. Over 120 agreements have been negotiated with copyright holders of Cantorial music recordings by FAU Libraries. These agreements allow the RSA website to stream specified recordings in their entirety. All other recordings are deemed to be under copyright and may to limited to 45-sec snippets on the public website. All recordings may be played in full on the password-protected RSA Research Station regardless of copyright status (Fair Use provisions of US copyright law).

What makes us unique?

The Judaic Collection has become a center for the Cantorial arts that is totally unique in terms of its size, scope and comprehensiveness. Great voices from the past and contemporary Cantors; Eastern-European traditional melodies and Sephardic interpretations; Israeli Cantors and modern Rock/Jazz Cantors; all find a place on the RSA website and Scholar’s Research Station.

Here, for the first time ever, is an accessible collection of Cantorial music that not only provides a wonderful and important resource for today’s Cantorial students and historic scholars, but also has gathered in one location the full range of Jewish liturgical music.

Cantorial Voices

The following are just some of the Cantors whose music is highlighted on this website. To view complete list of cantors, click here.

Alexandrovich, Misha Finkelstein, Meir Newman, Neil
Aroni, Zvee Glantz, Leib Oysher, Moshe
Alter, Israel Goodfriend, Isaac Parchi, Chaim
Bagley, David Hammerman, Michal Rand, Israel
Barkin, Jacob Heymann, Michel Rosenblatt, Josef
Barzilai, Shmuel Katchko-Gray, Deborah Rosenzweig, David
Belarsky, Sidor Konrad, Kim Scherr, Robert
Bensoussan, Aaron Koussevitsky, Moshe Schwartzman, Seymour
Bogomolni, Gaston Kowarsky, Paul Schwimmer, Moshe
Brody, Robert Kwartin, Sawel Shneyer, David
Brody, Norman Lissek, Leon Siegel, Benjamin
Butensky, Henry Lubin, Abraham Sirota, Gershon
Carus, Paul Maissner, Benjamin Sirull, David
Cattan, Luis Malavsky, Samuel Spielman, Udi
Cohen, Evan Mendelson, Nathan Tasat, Ramon
Cohon, Baruch Merel, Sheldon Taube, Moshe
Danto, Louis Miller, Benzion Wahrman, Henry
Dworkin, Sid Mizrahi, Alberto Waldman, Leibele
Elon, Gadi Moreno, Daniel Welber, Lois
Fettman, Leo Moses, Eric Werdyger, David

 

Cantors are invited to apply for access to the RSA Research Station: https://rsa.fau.edu/rs

Research Station users may request digitization of specific sound tracks and are able to listen to full audio of all items.


Listen to Cantorial Recordings | View the Judaic Collection | Search for Cantorial Recordings