ECA International Book Launch

Michael Jolles’ Encyclopaedia of British Jewish Cantors, Chazanim, Ministers and Synagogue Musicians: their history and culture

To watch the recording of the event go here.

To listen to a podcast of the event go here.

For Updating and refining contact EditorialJollesEncyclopaedia@cantors.eu.

To Download the Encyclopaedia email DownloadJollesEncyclopaedia@cantors.eu  for the link to your searchable pdf of the book

The European Cantors Association staged the International Launch of Michael Jolles’s
Encyclopaedia of British Jewish Cantors, Chazanim, Ministers and Synagogue Musicians: their history and culture on October 6th. 

This book is a major contribution to the knowledge of cantors and ministers who have served British Jewish communities in a musical capacity over the centuries from 1656 to the present day. After ten years of dedicated research, Dr Michael Jolles has produced a remarkable volume of material never assembled in one place before. It includes much information that is not available in any other publication.

Notable quotes from the international launch are :

“Singing is so essential as part of our davening….Imagine someone reading a Beatles song without the music. 
When the Chazan begins to sing it transforms us.  There is no talking to G-d, only singing”. 
Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum; Dean London School of Jewish Studies.

“A publication of the this breadth and depth is so significant for Jewish Music.  We need to have one of these for US cantors”.  
Professor Mark Kligman, Professor of Musicology, and Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience, UCLA

“Cantors are a crucial part of Jewish history and yet comprise the thinnest, glimmering thread of actual scholarship.
The Jolles book adds to a now-wonderful blossoming of scholarship on the cantorate.”  
Cantor Matt Austerklein, PhD Scholar, Halle-Wittenberg University, Germany.

To watch the recording of the event go here. To listen to a podcast of the event go here. To download the book (which is free of charge) go here.

The European Cantors Association is honoured to present to the public Michael Jolles’s Encyclopaedia of British Jewish Cantors, Chazanim, Ministers and Synagogue Musicians: their history and culture. 

This is a major contribution to the knowledge of cantors and ministers who have served British Jewish communities in a musical capacity over the centuries from 1656 to the present day. After ten years of dedicated research, Dr Michael Jolles has produced a remarkable volume of material never assembled in one place before. It includes much information that is not available in any other publication.

In over 800 pages, it contains 2000 alphabetical biographies of those who have presented music in British congregations as cantors, ministers, choirmasters, composers or as accompanists. There is also an extensive historical introduction that deals with the variety of roles of the chazan and their operating environment in the synagogue as well as other related topics.

“The Jolles Encyclopedia is an astounding accomplishment and one I will be referring to for decades, I expect. I've barely cracked the book and am already floored by the beautiful devotion of your research endeavor”. Dr Jeremiah Lockwood, New York.

Dr Michael Jolles is an independent researcher and writer on Anglo-Jewish history. He is one of the authors of the Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History and compiled the Directory of Distinguished Jews 1830-1930 (published in 2002). He was a Council Member of the Jewish Historical Society of England for twenty years and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.  

He and his editorial team of David Prager and Cantor Yehuda Marx welcome further input, from cantors, researchers or members of the public, regarding suggested additional material, amendments, photographs, discographies, references to academic sources, and links to appropriate websites. Please contact them here with your suggestions. the book will be available with updated and new material from time to time thereafter.

To watch the recording of the event go here.

To listen to a podcast of the event go here.

For Updating and refining contact EditorialJollesEncyclopaedia@cantors.eu.

To Download the Encyclopaedia email DownloadJollesEncyclopaedia@cantors.eu  for the link to your searchable pdf of the book