‘Cantor Soprano’: The Career of Julie Rosewald

The Fifteenth World Congress Of Jewish Studies Jerusalem

Session: Documenting and Performing Ashkenazi Music
3.8.09
Chair: James Loeffler

Summary:

Between 1884 and 1893, a woman soprano soloist served in the role of a cantor at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco, singing the solo parts in all the services and directing the music of the synagogue. Julie Eichberg Rosewald, affectionately called “Cantor Soprano” by her congregation, stood as a unique figure of woman cantor in America until the mid-twentieth century. This paper will lay out a description of the musical career of Julie Rosewald, and offer the evidence of her extraordinary role at Temple Emanu-El.