Temple Beth-El to Host Israeli Independence Concert

On April 20, Cantor Emily Wigod Pincus of Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough, will join voices with Cantor Regina Lambert-Hayut and student cantor Vladimir Lapin in a joyous concert celebrating Israeli Independence Day. They will be accompanied by pianist Kathy Shankin and members of the Temple Beth-El Tefila Band.

The concert will feature a broad range of musical styles—liturgical, Jewish secular, Israeli pop, and well-known folk songs, as well as Hebrew, Ladino and Yiddish music. It will be held at Temple Beth-El, 67 U.S. Highway 206 North.

The evening opens at 7 p.m. with a reception featuring wine, cheese and Israeli foods. The concert begins at 8 p.m. with a traditional Havdalah service. A dessert reception follows the concert.

Havdalah, which literally means “separation,” is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of the Sabbath and of Jewish holidays and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special havdalah candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine and smelling sweet spices.

Reserve early and save—admission goes up after April 14. Through April 14, the cost is $54 for the reception and concert; $18 for the concert alone. After April 14, the cost is $65 for the reception and concert; $25 for the concert alone. Children under the age of 18 may attend the concert for just $10. The dessert reception is open to all.

To reserve your seat or sign on as a sponsor, call Susan Walters at Temple Beth-El, 908-722-0674, ext. 112.

A native New Yorker, Cantor Pincus studied voice at Manhattan School of Music and at La Escuela Superior de Canto in Madrid and received a bachelors in Comparative Literature from Brown University. While studying at the School of Sacred Music and Hebrew Union College, she served as student cantor for Congregation Beth-El in Forth Worth, Texas, Brooklyn Heights Synagogue in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams, Mass. Upon her investiture in 2008, she served Congregation Har Sinai in Pennington, before coming to Temple Beth El in 2011.

During her student year in Israel, she participated in a concert for Yom Ha Shoah that featured members of the Israel Philharmonic, for which she received a favorable review in the Jerusalem Post. A former opera singer, she has sung with Tulsa Opera, El Paso Opera, Sarasota Opera and New Jersey Opera Festival, among other companies.

Cantor Regina Hayut serves Temple Beth Or in Washington Township. Like Cantor Pincus, Cantor Hayut also a graduated from the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College, where both women garnered numerous prizes in the performance of Jewish and cantorial music. In July 2002, Cantor Hayut became the first invested cantor of the Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes.

During her studies, she served as the "student intern" at Temple Sinai of Bergen County in Tenafly, and at Temple Beth Sholom in Clifton. Her leading operatic roles include: Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Suzannain Le Nozze di Figaro and the title role in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience. Her musical theater credits include Magnolia in "Show Boat," Polly Peachum in "The Three Penny Opera," Quintet in "A Little Night Music," and Marta in "Company." Her performance premiering Rose Mitnick in the Long Island production of "The Education of Hyman Kaplan," by Oscar Brandt, garnered rave reviews in both Newsday and The New York Times.

Currently a student at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College, Vladimir Lapin is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music, where he was part of numerous opera productions. A native of the former Soviet Union, Vladimir was born in 1981 and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1989. He received a degree in Journalism and Advertising from Temple University in Philadelphia and a Music Diploma from the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music.

Vladimir has been a featured soloist in Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," under the direction of Frank Nemhouser, and in Fauré's "Requiem," under the direction of Cynthia Powell, also he has sung the title rolein Mendelssohn's "Elijah" under the direction of Robert Long. He has also appeared as the soloist in Georgi Sviridov's "Chorale St. Petersburg Songs" at Merkin Hall in New York, also under the direction of Cynthia Powell.

Presently, Vladimir is the cantorial intern at Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, where he helps co-lead Shabbat services and is part of the religious school faculty. He also serves on the faculty of Temple Rodeph Sholom and Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City.

Vladimir’s recitals featuring Russian romances have been high in demand throughout the country and was recently featured on the PULSE 1540 radio show in Philadelphia where it has been replayed numerous times.

Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish congregation. A member of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ),Temple Beth-El was established in 1953 by a 15 families. Today, the congregation numbers more than 450 households and offers a variety of cultural, educational, social and spiritual opportunities to its members and the greater New Jersey Jewish community.

For more information about temple life and its programs, see Temple Beth El's website or call the temple at 908-722-0764.