Ben zion schenker biography of michael

Ben Zion Shenker was one of the most gifted and inspired composers of Hassidic niggunim and other related “operas” that became a feature of the Modzitzer dynasty’s tradition.

Ben zion schenker biography of michael

He credited his mother with transmitting to him a wealth of Hassidic melodies and with inspiring his curiosity and creativity. He became fascinated with traditional hazzanut while still a child—attending synagogue services that featured some of the legendary hazzanim and hearing recordings.

When he was twelve years old, he joined a synagogue choir conducted by the esteemed cantor Joshua Samuel Weisser [Pilderwasser], who was a virtual dean of hazzanim in the greater New York area. In 1939 Weisser presented him as a soloist in live radio performances, and shortly afterward he began studying composition and music theory.

In 1940 Shenker had a cathartic and life-changing experience at a service led by Rabbi Saul Taub, the rebbe of the Polish Modzitzer Hassidic dynasty, so named for the town near Lublin