Jean Gornish
Jean Gornish (1916–1981) was an American chazante, a female performer of Jewish cantorial and liturgical music. She is often called the first female chazan,[1] and was known as "Sheindele di Chazante".[2]
Life
[edit]Gornish was born in 1916 in Philadelphia. As a child, she was run over by a garbage truck, but survived unhurt.[3] Despite offers of work as a nightclub singer after her high school graduation, by 1936 she had committed herself exclusively to cantorial music. She took the stage name "Sheindele di Chazante".[2]
Gorlish's manager, Ben Gottlieb, arranged for her to perform regularly on the radio on Sundays after the news broadcast. She was unable to perform in orthodox synagogues, which prohibited female performers.[3]
By the early 1940s, Sheindele's had signed an exclusive contract with the Planters Peanut Company, which allowed her to organize a touring schedule and radio programs in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago, performing in theaters such as the 3,000-seat Orchestra Hall in Chicago and the Milwaukee Auditorium.[2]
Sheindele performed in traditional cantorial garb—a satin robe and a skullcap, either black or High Holiday white.[2]
References
[edit]- ↑ Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. Research Library; Monique Bourque; R. Joseph Anderson (1 January 1992). A guide to manuscript and microfilm collections of the Research Library of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. The Institute. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-937437-11-7.
- 1 2 3 4 Ari Y. Kelman (27 May 2009). Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States. Univ of California Press. pp. 123–214. ISBN 978-0-520-25573-9.
- 1 2 Allen Meyers (10 September 1998). The Jewish Community of South Philadelphia. Arcadia Publishing. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4396-1854-7.
