Yitzchak Meir Helfgot

Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (Template:Lang-he, Template:Lang-yi) is a Hasidic Orthodox Jewish Hazzan (cantor)and is known to be the world's greatest Jewish Cantor. Helfgot is known most for his voice and his ability to reach high notes, his complete control and mastery of his tone and voice, and for his supreme tenor.

biography

Helfgot was born in born in Bnei Brak, Israel in 1969, and has made his way to the top of the world of chazzanut at a very young age. Realizing his phenomenal voice Helfgot began singing at a very young age. Holding his first concert for the first time at age 23, Helfgot immediately took the world of cantorial song by storm with his powerful renditions of three renowned classics—Zibert's "Mimkomcha," Kwartin's "Tiher Rabbi Yishmael," and Rosenblatt's "Ad Hena." His magnificent and soulful voice has reigned supreme and captivated the international stage ever since. Canotr Helfgot lives in New York City where he serves as chief cantor at the historical Park East Synagogue.

Career

In addition to serving as Chief Cantor at the prestigious Park East Synagogue in New York, Cantor Helfgot also appears regularly in concerts, as well as serving as guest cantor for communities around the globe—from New York to Beijing, from South Africa to Italy, from Russia to Australia. Cantor Helfgot is known for his masterful renditions of classics by Rosenblatt, Koussevitzky, Kwartin, Sirota, and Hershman, transporting audiences back to the Golden Era of Chazzanut. Cantor Helfgot has collaborated with some of the greatest cantors and musicians of our time, including Cantor Chaim Adler, Jimmy Barnes, comedian Elon Gold, and Itzhak Perlman. In December 2006, he held a solo concert at the Metropolitan Opera House with the New York Philharmonic, its choir, and directed by Maestro Mordechai Sobel. In January 2007, he sang in Madison Square Garden to an audience of 30,000 at Siyum HaShas. In December 2007, he performed at Lincoln Center in Avery Fisher Hall, accompanied by the New York Philharmonic, in a tribute to Cantor Moshe Koussevitzky. He shared a stage with Cantor Shimon Farkas of Central Synagogue in Sydney, Australia, Cantor Yehuda Niassof, and rockstar Jimmy Barnes in August 2009. In December 2010, he performed at the White House during a Chanukah menorah lighting ceremony. He has also performed in distinguished venues, synagogues and concert halls in almost every European city and the world over, including the Warsaw Opera House in Poland, Henry Crown Hall in Jerusalem, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Cantor Helfgot's recent recording entitled Barchi Nafshi – Bless Hashem O My Soul and his latest album Mevasser Tov have broken Jewish record sales.

Collaboration With Musician Itzhak Perlman

Cantor Helfgot's unprecedented collaboration with Itzhak Perlman, the world-renowned violin virtuoso, has come to its peak in an album entitled Eternal Echoes that released by SONY in 2013. This project blends the masterful zeal of Perlman's violin with Helfgot's powerful voice while they perform their personal Israeli, classical and cantorial favorites that pay tribute to musical tradition and history.

|date=1930-03-20 |accessdate=2013-08-18}}</ref> On February 28, 2013 Helfgot performed with violinist Itzhak Perlman at a Jewish Music concert at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn.

Itzhak Perlman has said his voice compares to Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti.

Discography

Solo albums

• Borchi Nafshi (2002)
• Habet (2004)
• Avot (2005)
• Mevaser Tov (2007)

Collaborations

• Shirat Yisrael (2006) with Chaim Eliezer Hershtik & Israel Rand
• Eternal Echoes (2012) with Itzhak Perlman

See also

Hazzan

External links

• Cantorhelfgot.com