An Afternoon of Song

You are cordially invited to enjoy an afternoon of beautiful and inspiring music on the theme of Voices of the Soul: Yiddish and Swing.

On Sunday, March 22, 2026, beginning at 4:00 p.m., our own Cantor Risa Wallach and her special musical guests, including her father and composer Larry Wallach, Rabbi Cantor Vicki Axe, Rabbi Cece Bayer, and Cantor Mark Stanton, will present an afternoon of vintage jazz and new as well as classical Jewish settings, lifting up the rich history of Yiddish music and gems of Cantorial song. TBE’s accompanist Kathy Shanklin and congregant and musician Henry Nerenberg will join in making this an inspiring afternoon.

PRE-CONCERT RECEPTION:

Prior to the concert itself, we invite you to join us at a special reception starting at 3:00 p.m. Meet and greet the cantor and musical guests and schmooze with your fellow congregants. You’ll enjoy offerings of wine, cheese and other hors d’ouevres.

For more information about tickets and sponsorships, visit this page.

The funds raised by this concert through ticket sales and sponsorships will support our temple’s many activities, especially our educational offerings and programs for our youth and adult members.

MORE ABOUT OUR GUESTS:

	Larry Wallach is a composer, pianist, musicologist and educator whose compositions have been performed throughout the United States. He was educated at Columbia University, from which he holds a PhD in Musicology. Larry lives in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts.
	Known for her talent and passion in the areas of Jewish education, conducting, and creative programming, as well as liturgical art, Rabbi Vicki Axe has served on the conducting faculty of the North American Jewish Choral Festival since 1997, directed URJ regional and national choirs, both adults and children, and was featured in programs of Jewish interest with Dave Brubeck and Marvin Hamlisch, for whom she also prepared a choir. Blessed with the gift of voice, Rabbi Axe feels as comfortable on the concert stage with a symphony orchestra as she does in the classroom with an audience of preschoolers or seniors. She now serves Temple Emanu-El of Edison.
	Rabbi Cecelia Beyer is a singer, dancer, educator, spiritual cheerleader, and purveyor of Joyful Judaism. Rabbi Cece serves the community of Temple Sholom of Bridgewater as rabbi and prayer leader. Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2010, Rabbi Cece studied the Cantorial Arts as part of her rabbinic degree and continues to use music to connect and uplift in her rabbinate. She serves on the Conservative Movement’s Social Justice Commission and teaches as adjunct faculty at the H.L. Miller Cantorial School.
	Cantor Mark Stanton’s musical life started with his home and shul in Flushing, Queens, and carried him to the concert halls at Lincoln Center, studies and travels in Israel, Italy, Austria, and the United States. With a foundation built upon a Bachelor of Music in Opera Performance at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT, and a summer in Graz, Austria, he began a flourishing career as a professional singer, but he found himself yearning for greater connection between his professional and his spiritual life. Studies at the Hebrew Union College-JIR in Israel introduced him to Cantor Eli Schleifer who humbled him with his talent, knowledge, and his own humility. Later, in 2003, Cantor Stanton was ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion. He now serves Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick.