Led by Cantor Ted Labow and Laurie Akers
Accompanist: David Schlossberg
Percussionist: Gaston Bernstein
Torah Reading: Numbers 14: 17 to 20
Click here for music for this T’filah
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Cantor Ted Labow currently serves as Cantor of the Jewish Center of Northwest Jersey. He has served congregations in Ontario, Canada, New Jersey and on Long Island. He is a composer and is currently preparing a collection of 150 pieces of Jewish Music for release called Mishkan Z’mirah. He is also a Judaic artist and continues to be active as an operatic Bass-Baritone.

Laurie Akers is a native of Chicago and proudly serves as the cantorial soloist at Temple Sholom of Chicago with aspirations to become a cantor.  Laurie earned a degree in musical theatre with a vocal concentration from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her career began in the Lyric of Opera of Chicago’s Tosca. Following a move to New York, Laurie spent over a decade of performances in Broadway, touring and regional productions including Beauty and the Beast (Belle u/s) and West Side Story (Maria).  In addition to her musical theatre career, Laurie was given the honor of becoming Miss USO, in which she spent a year traveling extensively throughout the world to provide entertainment and support for US troops and veterans. Laurie is an accomplished pianist and has served as a concert soloist in both New York City and Chicago. When not singing, Laurie can be found engaged in work with Jewish United Fund’s YWC, Bright Pink and Streetwise Inc. Laurie and her husband, Brad, serve as round-the-clock entertainers to three boys, Levi, Isaac and Ashton.

Dave Schlossberg is a collaborative accompanist and composer from Monroe, New Jersey. Although he mainly serves Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, he also is an accompanist for the following groups, among others: New Jersey Cantors Concert Ensemble; Makhelat Hamercaz, the Jewish Choir of Central New Jersey; and Kol Dodi, the Jewish Community Choir of Metro-West.  Dave hopes, through composition, to help elevate Jewish musical repertoire and make it both spiritually resonant and accessible.  He enjoys working with synagogue music because of the many opportunities for harmonic creativity and expression. Dave loves the challenge of bringing out the inherent beauty of Jewish texts and ideas.

Gaston Bernstein was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was part of Marshall Meyer’s Comunidad Bet El temple growing up – singing in the Choir and leading services.  He emigrated to Southern California in 1982, where he graduated college at the University of California.  He has been working as a synagogue percussionist for over 15 years and has played in concerts with various Jewish artists including Craig Taubman, Danny Maseng and Rick Recht.  Gaston moved to Philadelphia with his wife Hazzan Sandy Bernstein and their two daughters in 2013.  In Philly he is the Band Leader of Shir Joy, the synagogue band at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid, and singer/percussionist at the Neshamah Band at Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park.