Abstract: |
Saul Meisels served as cantor of B'nai Jeshurun Congregation (Temple on the Heights), Cleveland Heights, Ohio, from 1942-1979,
and was considered one of the foremost interpreters of Yiddish song in the United States. He attended New York University
and received formal vocal training at Julliard School of Music. He served as president of the Cantors Assembly, was a member
of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and was a founder of the Jewish Liturgical Society and the Israel
Music Association. In 1965, in Israel, he headed the first International Conference of Jewish Sacred Music. Through commissions
and performances, he encouraged the writing of new compositions for the synagogue. His wife, Ida Ruth Moskowitz Meisels, was
a musician and composer of Jewish and Hebrew songs and cantorial recitatives for solo voice, piano, and chorus. She and Saul
Meisels were married in 1935. Following their move to Cleveland, Ohio, she studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and
served for more than twenty years as director of music for both the Cleveland Hebrew Schools and the United Jewish Religious
Schools. The collection consists of awards and honors, biographical materials, newspaper clippings, correspondence, catalogues
of concert and synagogue arrangements, and programs of musical services and festivals.
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