Sharon Bernstein

Sharon Bernstein received her B.A. in Music (Voice and Piano) from the University of Redlands (California), and her Hazzan Diploma and Masters in Sacred Music from the Jewish Theological Seminary (New York). Her research focuses on Yiddish song, particularly the Meir Noy Yiddish Song Notebooks, which form the basis for Forever in Our House: The Meir Noy Yiddish Song Project, as well as on Italian Jewish cantillation, on which she wrote her master's thesis, "The Italian System for Chanting the Torah According to the Torino Tradition," advised by Prof. Edwin Seroussi. Her passion for Yiddish song began in college and has shaped a career spanning performance, teaching, and composition. She has led Yiddish song workshops in venues such as Yung YiDish (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv), the Vilnius Summer Yiddish Program, and KlezCalifornia. She is featured on Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman's CD Af Di Gasn Fun Der Shtot ("On the Streets of the City"), and has performed throughout Israel, Europe, and the United States. Bernstein also maintains a broader interest in Jewish musical traditions from around the world, particularly in piyyutim and Hassidic nigunim, drawing on the resources of the JMRC and the National Library of Israel to bring these traditions into contemporary North American synagogue life. As a composer, she has written music for Yiddish poems, solo and choral settings of traditional texts and liturgy, and children’s songs on Jewish themes. Her additional publications include the book and CD Under the Wings of Rafa'el: Blessings, Songs, and Explorations for a Healing Path, contributions to Transcontinental Music's Shabbat Anthology VIII, and Adding Our Voices: The Torah of Jewish Women in Song. She is extremely lucky to have served as the Cantor of Congregation Sha'ar Zahav in San Francisco since 2007.