Cantor's Training Began In Cradle -- He Comes To Seattle As Soloist For Largest Reform Congregation In The Northwest

From his earliest moments of consciousness, Kenneth Koransky remembers his father's sweet, lyric tenor voice. It was not to lullabies the infant would fall asleep, but to Italian arias his father would sing to him.

Koransky would inherit the gift of singing. At 3, he'd let forth with "La donna e` mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto," and "Come Back to Sorrento," the Neapolitan song by Ernesto de Curtis.

At 6, he was a child-soloist with the choir of a Johannesburg synagogue in his native South Africa. Then on to Israel and Europe for his Jewish studies, continued vocal training and leading operatic roles that would take him to Italy, Germany and Austria.

Now, after cantorial posts in New York, Toronto and most recently at Congregation Beth Shalom in San Francisco, he has come to Seattle as the new cantor of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, the largest Reform congregation in the Northwest.

His immediate role is as soloist and prayer leader at the temple's High Holy Day services that began with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on Wednesday evening and ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

In his new position for only two months, Koransky can hardly contain his enthusiasm. With its soaring sanctuary at 16th Avenue and East Pike Street and a long musical tradition to build on, Koransky said he dreams of seeing Temple De Hirsch Sinai become the musical showcase of Reform Judaism in America.

Koransky will add his rich tenor voice to a veritable chorus of cantors and cantorial soloists already serving Puget Sound-area synagogues.

"The cantor's role is very important, especially at this time of year," said Rabbi James Mirel of Temple B'nai Torah on Mercer Island. "The most important role is to bring the prayers of the community to God. Through the chanting of prayers, the cantor is able to be the emissary of the congregation. He or she also is a vehicle to inspire the people to faithfulness and repentance," said Mirel, whose congregation's full-time professional cantor is David Serkin-Poole.

Koransky said the institution of the cantor dates back 2,300 years. The Hebrew term is shaliach tzibbur, or "representative of the people," he said. It was the cantor's voice that vocalized the prayers of the congregation before people had such things as prayer books, Koransky said.

Over the centuries, the words of the prayers have remained constant - Sh'ma Yisrael adonai elohaynu adonai echad, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one," for example. But numerous musical arrangements for each prayer have been developed for different occasions, said Koransky.

Koransky said he, a 10-voice choir and organ will be providing a variety of music during the High Holy Days at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, from traditional compositions of the 19th Century Reform movement in Germany to modern arrangements by American and Israeli composers.

As he prepared this week for Rosh Hashanah, Koransky rehearsed one of his own arrangements in the spacious temple sanctuary. The music was at once stirring and uplifting.

"What he does is create a mood through the music that enfranchises people to pray and to gather. The place has a new energy," said Larry Broder, the temple's executive director.

Rabbi Earl Starr, Temple De Hirsch Sinai's senior rabbi, said the congregation's response to Koransky has gone "exceptionally well. He will add a new dimension and depth to our services and spirituality."

Koransky said a certified cantor, in contrast to a cantorial soloist, must have gone at least five years to cantorial school for formal study of the different texts and musical settings of the prayers. One prayer can be set to 100 different arrangements, he noted. In his own case, Koranksy, 49, has spent virtually a lifetime in training. As a youth, he studied under Shlomo Mandel, the famed cantor from Warsaw, Poland, who escaped to South Africa before the rise of Hitler.

Koransky studied Jewish law and traditions at a seminary in Jerusalem, received vocal training at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

He chuckled at ancient descriptions of what a cantor should be - "He should have a sweet voice, be poor and have many children, and when he stood and prayed to the Almighty you'd know that his prayers were from the heart," Koransky said. Traditionally, cantors were men. Orthodox congregations - the most traditional of the three movements in Judaism - still have only male cantors.

Chaim Gottlieb, who retired this year as cantor of Congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath, an Orthodox synagogue in Seward Park, was considered the dean among active Northwest cantors.

But women are prominent in cantorial roles.

Temple Beth Am, a Reform congregation in North Seattle, uses cantorial soloists, including Wendy Marcus and Leslie Boguch. Temple Beth Shalom, a Conservative congregation in North Seattle, has Celia Gartenberg and Joyce Shane among its prayer leaders. Mirel's spouse, Julie Mirel, serves as cantorial soloist for Temple Beth El in Tacoma, and Raida Singer has a similar position with Temple Beth Or in Everett.

The High Holy Days come on the heels of this week's signing of the Middle East peace pact between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Koransky said he would not be making any special changes in the High Holy Days music to reflect that development.

"Our prayers for thousands of years have been for peace. There is no need for us to suddenly start praying for peace," he explained.

But he acknowledged he would be saying some personal prayers for peace not only in the Middle East, but for his native South Africa, Yugoslavia and other parts of the world.

"I believe the (Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak) Rabin-(Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser) Arafat agreement should be an inspiration, should be proof that the most vehement enemies, the most violent enemies, can find some common ground for peace," he said.

Noting his parents and sister remain in South Africa, he said, "I pray my family will be safe and that peace will come to this beautiful but tragic land."

The High Holy Days are a time for introspection, prayer and fasting. "They are times when we stand before God in judgment," said Rabbi Norman Hirsh of Temple Beth Am.

Rosh Hashanah is when the shofar, or ram's horn, is blown. "It is meant to awaken our conscience," said Hirsh.

Yom Kippur is a day of fasting. Hirsh said his and other congregations will read from the Book of Jonah, which tells of God's willingness to forgive repentant sinners.

"It is day where we emerge with our sins forgiven. The slate is wiped clean. We feel renewed, that we can begin and try again."