Music & Prayer

Music, as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, provides the catalyst for connecting the disparate elements of the finely woven tapestry of the fixed words of liturgy (keva) and kavanah, our deepest, truest intentions to reach and serve God. At North Shore Congregation Israel, we search for ways to fill both keva with kavanah. We explore the possibility that music can function in many ways, including:

1) Praising God

2) Providing a deeper understanding of our sacred texts

3) Resonating with our community 

4) Linking us to our history

5) Connecting us to our coreligionists around the world

6) Allowing us to explore the awesome nature of God

7) Creating moments of introspection 

8) Deepening our relationships within our families

Here at NSCI you will find music infused into every aspect of our community’s life. We invite you to join us on a sacred journey with music as our vehicle. Click HERE to listen to an archive audio of Cantor Benjamin Landsman, NSCI's first cantor. 

Upcoming Music Events

There will be a light dinner for those attending Shabbat services before the concerts. Post Kabbalat Shabbat Concerts are generously sponsored by: Jim Stone, Madeleine & Harvey Plonsker, and Bobby Takiff. We are grateful to the following additional concert supporters: Penny Berman, Lois & Ron Davis, Aron Mosnaim, Cynthia Raskin, Barbara & Victor Weisskopf.

• Post Kabbalat Shabbat Concert - The Ravinia Steans Music Institute 2025 Piano and Strings Fellows
  Friday, July 11th, 8:00 pm in Perlman Sanctuary
  
  The Ravinia Steans Music Institute Piano and Strings Fellows gather for a five-week immersive and intensive rotational training program. With some of the world’s finest musical teaching artists and pedagogues as their instructors, they are led through the practice and performance of classical sonata and chamber repertoire. Register here.

Music Groups with Cantor Wolman

Holy Chanters

Tuesdays from 12:00–1:00 pm via Zoom; December 6 & 13; January 3, 17 & 31; March 14
 

Learn to chant with Cantor Goldstein on your lunch break! This session of Holy Chanters will focus on the cantillation of the sacred texts for the three festivals: Ecclesiastes (Sukkot), Song of Songs (Passover), and Ruth (Shavuot). Click here to register.
 
Shir Chadash
Rehearsal: Mondays at 7:00–8:30 pm

Shabbat Worship: Friday, December 9 (5 pm rehearsal; 6:15pm service)

Join Cantor Goldstein at NSCI and meet friends who love to sing or play a musical instrument. Shir Chadash adult choir provides a rich harmony to enhance our worship experience and help create sacred moments during Shabbat, celebrations and commemorations! Our repertoire includes a variety of traditional and new genres. Please contact Sarah to register.

Jewish Jammers 
No dates at this time

Gather together with Cantor Goldstein for an in-person, socially distanced jam session at NSCI! Bring your guitar, bass, harmonica, ukulele, or other instrument and a piece of music to play with the group (we'll provide the drums). *Masks must be worn at all times while inside the synagogue. This program is open to congregants and is only for musicians; there will be no audience. Please contact Sarah to register.

past Music Events

To view recordings of previous music events, visit our YouTube channel.

Meet our Staff

Alan Goodis is a national touring Jewish musician playing over 150 events a year. Born and raised in Toronto, Alan is a proud product of URJ Goldman Union Camp Institute. Noted for his dedication to building relationships and community through music, Alan travels throughout North America to serve as an artist-in-residence and performer at temples, youth conventions, and Jewish summer camps. Alan and his music have become a fixture at North Shore Congregation Israel and other congregations, URJ camps, and youth events from coast to coast. Alan lives in Chicago with his wife, Codi, and their dog Wally.

Christopher Powell is a Juilliard School–trained organist and serves as the Director of Sacred Music and the organist at the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe at Marytown in Libertyville, IL. He is also North Shore Congregation Israel's new organist. Christopher studied organ performance with Grammy Award–winning organist Paul Jacobs. He has also performed in master classes and lessons with Alan Morrison, Ken Cowan, Wilma Jensen, Cameron Carpenter, and Stephen Roberts. Christopher is the recipient of silver and bronze medals in composition from the Global Music Awards competition. His work ranges from opera and chamber music to functional liturgical music. When not at the organ, Christopher enjoys painting, bike rides, and gigging with his wife, Demi, as house entertainers for Cellar 26 restaurant in Green Oaks, IL.

Gregory Shifrin is a world-renowned pianist and a graduate of the Jerusalem Academy of Music in Israel. He moved to Chicago in 2005. He is a collaborative pianist for Glenbrook South High School, New Trier High School, Music Institute of Chicago Chorale, the Unitarian Church of Evanston, and the Chicago Youth Choral Theater. Performing in a piano duo with Irina Kotlyar, they won the 7th Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in Miami, Florida (1999) and the 1st International Two Piano Competition in Poland (1999), and they were among the three finalists of the 49th International competition of the ARD in Munich, Germany (2000). Gregory lives in Vernon Hills with his wife, Kira, and two sons, Itamar and Ariel.