Rebecca Garfein

Rebecca Garfein is a distinguished cantor in the music field, born in Tallahassee, Florida. Her early exposure to music was at her father's synagogue, where she regularly sang. Garfein pursued higher education in music, attending Rice University in 1985 on a scholarship from the Shepherd School of Music. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree and later earned a master's degree in sacred music from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR).

Garfein's career as a cantor has been marked by several notable milestones. In 1993, she was invested as a cantor and became the first cantor of Riverdale Temple in the Bronx. She later became the first female senior cantor of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City. Garfein has also performed at various significant events, including a solo concert in Berlin in 1997, which was released as a CD titled "Sacred Chants of the Contemporary Synagogue" in 1998. Additionally, she was the first female cantor to preside in a German synagogue at the 1998 Berlin Jewish Cultural Festival and a soloist at the 350th anniversary concert of the Curaçao Jewish community in 2001.