Jeffrey F. Warschauer

Cantor Jeff Warschauer is a hazzan, educator, and highly accomplished musician with a sweet, soulful voice and a friendly, engaging presence. He leads exciting, participatory, and innovative services with a creative mix of contemporary and traditional melodies. Cantor Warschauer teaches kids and adults about all facets of Jewish music, prayer, and Torah reading. He also leads multi-generational choruses and ensembles that enliven synagogue events, draw in potential new members, and strengthen bonds among the membership and with the community at large. A graduate of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cantor Warschauer has served congregations in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Vermont.

In the Yiddish and klezmer scene, Cantor Jeff Warschauer is internationally renowned as one of the foremost klezmer mandolinists. He's also recognized as an innovator in the development of a klezmer guitar style and a deeply expressive Yiddish singer. He's a skillful and inspirational educator. As one half of the Strauss/Warschauer Duo, he was a long-time member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and has been featured in concert and on recordings with Itzhak Perlman, Joel Grey, and the late Theodore Bikel. He currently serves as a Music Associate at Columbia University and is a Founding Artistic Director and Senior Artistic Advisor of KlezKanada.

Cantor Warschauer speaks Yiddish and has researched and collected Yiddish and Hebrew songs and instrumental melodies since the mid-1980s. He received a Bachelor of Music at the New England Conservatory and has studied Jewish culture, languages, and religion at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Conservative Yeshiva, Oxford University, Columbia University, the University of Haifa, and Tufts University. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards in music, community activities, Judaica, and musicology, including the Amalgamated Bank Prize in Yiddish, a Massachusetts Folk Arts Fellowship, and the KlezKanada Distinguished Service Award.