Let My People Sing

Performers
	Rami Kleinstein Known as one of Israel's greatest composers, Rami Kleinstein has often been compared to Elton John and Billy Joel. Like John and Joel, Rami is known for his beautiful love songs, soothing voice and delicate piano-playing. Rami has had a very prolific career as both a composer and a performer. Apart from being a triple platinum and gold album award winner, Rami is also known for composing and arranging music for other singers, most notably the Israeli superstar, Rita. Since 1985, Rami has been successfully composing, arranging and accompanying Rita. www.teev.com/rami
	Debbie Friedman Has recorded 19 albums. Her music is so fully integrated into synagogue liturgy, that in many congregations it is considered “traditional.” Her melodies and lyrics are licensed for hundreds of usages. Debbie’s 1996 Carnegie Hall concert celebrated the 25th anniversary of her distinguished musical career. She has performed in hundreds of cities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. As a music educator, she continues to co-lead Hava Nashira, the annual songleading and music workshop she created. Debbie has served on the faculty of the Summer Institute for Jewish Educators, the Kalsman Institute of Hebrew Union College, the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, the Elat Chayyim Jewish Spiritual Retreat Center in the Catskill Mountains, the Brandeis Bardin Institute, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations summer Kallah programs held at Brandeis University. Debbie teaches workshops, directs a 300 person chorale, performs in concert and spiritually inspires the several thousand delegates who attend the annual conference of the Coalition For The Advancement of Jewish Education. Last year, Debbie received the 1st Annual Jewish Music Awards Heritage Award. www.debbiefriedman.com
	Rabbi David Wolpe Named the #1 Rabbi in America by Newsweek magazine, David Wolpe is the Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California. Previously he taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, The American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and he currently teaches at UCLA. Rabbi Wolpe writes for many publications, including regular columns for the New York Jewish Week, beliefnet.com, as well as periodic contributions to the Jerusalem Post, The Los Angeles Times, and many others. He has been on television numerous times, featured in series on PBS, A&E, as well as serving as a commentator on CNN and CBS This Morning. Rabbi Wolpe is the author of seven books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times. Rabbi Wolpe has a new book coming out this fall entitled Why Faith Matters, a personal faith journey and response to the new atheists. www.sinaitemple.org
	Rabbi Ed Feinstein Rabbi Ed Feinstein is senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California. He serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the University of Judaism, the Wexner Heritage Foundation, the Whizen Center for the Jewish Family, and the Synagogue 2000 initiative. He is a columnist for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles and lectures widely across the United States. His book, Tough Questions Jews Ask--A Young Adult's Guide to Building a Jewish Life, published by Jewish Lights in 2003, was one of the American Library Association's Top Ten Books on Religion for Young Readers and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. His stories have been published in a number of anthologies, including Sacred Intentions and Restful Reflections, both edited by Kerry Olitzky and Lori Forman. www.vbs.org
	Reverend Mark Whitlock Rev. Whitlock is the pastor of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine, CA. Christ Our Redeemer started with five members on the UCI Campus to one thousand seven hundred members in their newly develop thirteen thousand square feet sanctuary in Irvine, CA. Before his full-time call to the ministry, Mark served as the founder and executive director of FAME Renaissance, the economic development arm of First AME Church, Los Angeles. As the executive director, Mark raised over one hundred million dollars in grants, loans, and contracted service initiatives that created over four thousand jobs with South Los Angeles. Rev. Whitlock is a recipient of national, statewide, and local community development awards. He was honored by the City of Los Angeles for raising over four hundred million dollars for community development at his retirement from First AME Church's FAME Renaissance Project in 2004. He is happily married to Attorney Hermia Shegog Whitlock for twenty-three years. They have three sons, Ariel, Mark and Devin. www.corchurch.org
	Larry Miller: From his initial "first break" at The Comic Strip in New York in the mid 1970's, Larry Miller has developed a sense of style not often associated with stand-up comedians or actors. His stand up career led Larry to Hollywood and through his great talent and a series of fortunate events; he got a gig as the opening act for Frank Sinatra. Before long, Larry was discovered and cast as the part of Mr. Hollister in the blockbuster hit Pretty Woman. After Pretty Woman there was no stopping Larry Miller. Soon he was getting cast and co-starring in Necessary Roughness, Undercover Blues, Corrina Corrina, Dream Lover, The Favor, and Waiting For Guffman. Larry currently resides in Southern California with is wife, Eileen Conn, a television writer, and his two sons. www.larrymillerhumor.com
	Rebbe Soul: Recording artist and producer from Israel, RebbeSoul's releases include RebbeSoul, Fringe Of Blue , RebbeSoul-O, and the most recent Change The World With A Sound which hit #1 on the CMJ (college radio in the US and Canada) World Music charts. The music of RebbeSoul is world fusion stemming from the Jewish Diaspora, a mix of ancient and modern, a blend of East and West, featuring Russian balalaika, Greek bouzouki, electric and acoustic guitars, hip-hop rhythms, Middle Eastern percussion, flamenco cajónes, and soulful vocals. RebbeSoul has been featured in Billboard magazine, on CNN International, National Public Radio (NPR), interviewed on the CBC of Canada and VTV’s Gabareau Live, named to the Starstreams top 20, and written up in of hundreds of publications to date. Several record companies including Island and Rhino Records have licensed his tracks for use in compilations as have film and TV studios, most recently When Do We Eat and the American Film Institute in their Tribute To Barbra Streisand. He is currently working on a new album of the material of Shlomo Carlebach due out later this year and an international music video of the song Am Yisrael Chai. www.RebbeSoul.com
	Elisa Waltzman: Elisa received both her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music Degrees in Voice from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. She has won various awards including The University of Southern California 2005 Honors Convocation Vocal Arts award, the Marilyn Horne Town and Gown scholarships, the Titi Najera de Mason memorial scholarship, and Leni Fe Bland FoundatioScholarship, and The Los Angeles National Association of Teachers' singing competition. Most recently, she sang the world premiere of "A Task" by John Harbison at Pepperdine University, and made her debut with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony as the soloist in Requiem Hebreico by Erich Zeisl. Currently, Elisa is completing a Masters Degree in Jewish Sacred Music and is working toward her Cantorial Ordination from The Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles. www.elisarose.com
	Chris Hardin Chris Hardin is a composer, orchestrator, musical director and conductor. He orchestrated music for the concert production of Israel 2000 performed at the Greek Theater and for the concert honoring Chayim Frenkel that featured Tovah Feldshuh at Royce Hall, and he was the Musical Director for Warner Bros. production of Broadway on Sunset, directed by Stuart Ross. His musical directing talents were also put to use in the sold out production of Craig Taubman's Hallelu at the Universal Amphitheatre as well as “Theo! The First 80 Years”, a concert honoring Theodore Bikel at the Wadsworth Theater. His most recent film scores include Not Again, Two Paths and On Growing Older for which he won an award for Best Original Score. Chris formal education includes studying composition and orchestration for film and television at UCLA and USC. He was presented with an award from the Harry Warren Foundation for a symphonic composition he wrote while attending USC. Currently, Chris is writing and arranging for vocal jazz groups, both for the high school/college and professional arenas. www.torahtrek.com
	Rabbi Mike Comins Rabbi Mike Comins grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from UCLA (B.A., Near Eastern Studies), and served as regional advisor for the Southern California Federation of Temple Youth and Rosh Eida at UAHC Camp Swig before making aliyah (moving to Israel) at age 26. Mike studied classical Jewish texts for four years at Machon Pardes, a yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1996, he was ordained by the Hebrew Union College, Israeli rabbinical program. Returning to the U.S. in 1998, Rabbi Comins lectured at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and led one-day TorahTrek hikes for congregations in Manhattan and Southern California. Currently, Rabbi Comins lives in Los Angeles, continuing to grow TorahTrek. He is engaged in several writing projects which explore the intersection of Judaism, wilderness, spirituality and environmental ethics. www.torahtrek.com
	Gabriel Mann The son of an orthodox cantor, Gabriel Mann has five solo albums to his credit, and has done just about everything there is to do in music. He produced Sara Bareilles' “Careful Confessions,” wrote and sang most of the songs for Fox's “Arrested Development,” supported Alanis Morissette's 2005 European tour and Jamie Cullum in the States, was featured vocalist in “Office Space,” and has opened for the Rolling Stones, Glenn Tillbrook, Guster, Hanson, Lisa Loeb, and Michael Penn. As a composer, Mann has written scores for the “Spyro” series of video games, as well as the recent “F.E.A.R.” franchise and the critically acclaimed “TimeShift.” He just finished music for the CBS comedy “Worst Week,” and is currently immersed in the World War II French jazz scene as he composes the score to the highly anticipated “Saboteur” from Pandemic/Electronic Arts. www.gabrielmann.com
	Klezmer Juice Klezmer Juice is the new generation of jewish Soul musicians. Torch bairers of an ansient traditional craft that unites generations in spirit. Fresh interpretations of traditional tunes captures the heart of a new generation of fans. Bandleader and Clarinet player Gustavo Bulgach was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina learning Klezmer music from his family at a young age, adds the original and soulful sound of the traditional Klezmer Clarinet, that "laughing-Crying Yiddische soul". Many great things have been said about Gustavo's playing, but we think that the music speaks for itself. www.cdbaby.com/cd/klezmerjuice
	Freedom Song Freedom Song is an extension of Beit T'Shuvah's Prevention Program and Music in Recovery. It is a powerful and original musical workshop, which highlights the historic universality of the struggle to free oneself from external oppression and internal bondage. Using contemporary music, Freedom juxtaposes personal stories of internal conflict and family dysfunction with the story of Passover. The play not only draws parallels between being a slave in Egypt and being a slave to your addiction, but forces an audience of all ages to take a look at themselves instead of pointing the finger at everyone else. In the end, we are all enslaved to something.
	The Los Angeles Israeli Dance Company The Los Angeles Israeli Dance Company, directed by world renowned David Dassa and innovative choreographer Roni Kosmal, is a group that brings together young dancers with the sole purpose of providing an outlet of Jewish expression through love of Israeli culture and dance. The Company, founded by David Dassa in 2004 (in conjunction with Milken Community High School of Los Angeles), includes students from several Los Angeles private and public schools. The Company performs diverse pieces in the classic Israeli Debka, Hora and Yemenite styles, while incorporating ballet, hip-hop, modern and jazz technique into their unique dance repertoire. Previous performances include the world famous Festival Aviv in Mexico City, the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, the Boston Israeli Dance Festival, half-time at the Los Angeles Clippers NBA game at Staples Center (the first Israeli dance company to do this!), and have opened for Israel’s largest Independence Day Festival (Woodley Park) for the last 5 years. www.rikud.com/troupe.html
	Dr. Gabe Goldman Dr. Gabe Goldman is the Director of Experiential and Service Learning at the American Jewish University and teaches “Wilderness Survival Skills and Jewish Ecological Principles” at California State University at Northridge (CSUN). Gabe is nationally known for his work in Jewish environmental and nature education. He is also the founder and director of Helping Hands Gardens, a new American Jewish University initiative to help Los Angeles-area Jewish schools and congregations establish small, organic gardens to raise produce for SOVA. Gabe and his wife, Pam, live on the 3,000 acres of land at the Brandeis Bardin Campus in Simi Valley where he helps people from all walks of life discover the awe and wonder of Creation.
	Craig Taubman brings to life the joy and spirit of the Jewish heritage, appealing to young and old alike and captivating audiences wherever he goes. Craig has composed music for TV shows on Fox, HBO and PBS as well as for film including Paramount Pictures feature film Andre, New Line Cinema's Pinocchio, and Disney's animated film Recycle Rex. His songs have been recorded by such respected artists as Chita Rivera and Jennifer Holliday. Craig's sell-out concerts draw thousands of fans at such respected venues as Ravinia in Chicago, Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, Westbury Music Fair in New York, the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and three special performances at the White House. www.craignco.com

Produced by Craig Taubman and

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