Reverend Cantor Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs (born New York City on 3 June 1970) is a hazzan (synagogue cantor) and fine artist. He is the son of Walter and Rosa Kepecs. He attended Westchester Day School and Westchester Hebrew High School, paying special attention to acting, singing, and art. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Yeshiva College, a Bachelor of Science in Jewish History, and a Hebrew Teacher's Diploma from Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies at Yeshiva University in 1992, while studying to be a hazzan at the Belz School of Jewish Music of Yeshiva University (as reported in The Jewish Press, February 26, 1993 page 63). He helped train and sang with the Russian Evocans Chorale, the Yeshiva Mizrachi L'banim boys choir, (The Jewish Press November 18, 1994 page 45), and the HAFTR Boys Choir. He led High Holyday services with the Beth T'filoh Choral Ensemble of Baltimore, Maryland in 1995, and sang in a concert in Montreal, with Montreal's Shaar Hashomayim Choral Society on October 12, 1999.

Cantor Kepecs has performed in concerts worldwide as an operatic tenor, with a repertoire that includes Cantorial, Yiddish, Israeli, Neapolitan Folk songs, as well as Italian, French and German opera. He was written up in numerous publications, including The Jewish Press (February 26, 1993 page 63), when he debuted in Toronto, Canada, in a concert held at Congregation Shaarei Shomayim; The Nassau Herald (November 28, 2002 page 19), for a tribute concert in memory of the renowned Cantors Tibor Kelen, and Chaskele Ritter (Kepecs' friend and predecessor at Kehillat Hillel); and The Jewish Week (December 10, 2004 page 19) when he sang in a Hannukah concert for The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism also dedicating a wall of honor mentioned below, among other periodicals. Cantor Kepecs was one of ten finalists in a cantorial competition hosted by Cantors World at Congregation Beth Israel in Brooklyn, on March 20, 2005 (http://www.cantorsworld.com/talentsearch-music.php). Since 1996, Cantor Kepecs has served as Cantor at Kehillat Hillel of North Woodmere, NY, where he also is an educator, teaching Bar and Bat Mitzvah classes, Judaic classes in the hebrew school, and running adult education programs. He has served as Cantor of Brooklyn's Kingsway Jewish Center, and Yonkers' Orthodox Community of Colonial Heights.

He was selected to officiate at services for the 96th Annual Convention of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, as reported in The Jewish Press (November 18, 1994 page 47). He has sung at New York's Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, The Colden Center Auditorium, and Lefrack Hall of Queens College, in a Passover musical entitled "A Seder in a Flat," and appeared in the movie "A Stranger Among Us." On 17 January, 2005, Cantor Kepecs sang in the Great Synagogue of Rome in an ecumenical cantorial concert that was televised throughout Italy. This concert was designed to help build bridges of understanding with other religions, and Vatican officials were among those in attendance. He has sung before dignitaries and heads of state, such as Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See His Excellency Oded Ben Hur, then U.S. Congressman Charles Schumer, Nassau County Executive Thomas S. Golatta, Nassau County Supervisor Kate Murray, U.S. Congresswoman Caroline McCarthy, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and New York City Mayor Rudolph Guilianni among others. In 2004, Cantor Kepecs was appointed "Professor of Liturgical Music" at The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism. He also serves on the Board of Directors at the American Seminary, and is the Vice President of the Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America and Canada (http://thejmca.homestead.com/history.html), the oldest cantorial organization in existance, spanning over a century (1896), and which has seen members such as Cantors Moshe and David Koussevitsky, Yossele Rosenblatt, Zavel Kwartin, Mordechai Hershman, Ben Zion Kapov Kagan, Berele Chagy, and Chaskele Ritter to name a few. Cantor Kepecs has been involved with organizing, producing, and performing in concerts for Meir Panim soup kitchens in Israel, in campaigns for "Feed the Hungry Children", (http://www.mifalchaim.org/image/news/2004/news5_ext_e.htm) written up in the Five Towns Jewish Times (of December 12, 2003 page 19), and The Jewish Week (of 2003 editions: November 14 page 27, November 7 page 12, October 31 page 27, October 24 page 14, and October 10 page 18). Cantor Kepecs' singing credits include a musical album produced by the Cantorial Council of America "In Concert," - completed March 1993, and an album produced by The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America & Canada "The 2003 Cantors Concert" - recorded live March 4, 2003. Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs performed the leading tenor role of Gershon, in The World Premiere performances of the new American opera, "The Eglantine," in August 2005. It is a heart wrenching story taking place in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust era of 1943; music written and directed by Sam Belich, and libretto by Sam Belich and Keith Green. (http://www.theeglantine.com).

Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs' Art Works

Cantor Kepecs (who signs his art works LKepecs) was commissioned by The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism to design and build a wall of honor for fundraising. This 20-foot-long handmade wall is made to look like the imaginary "Jerusalem Gate", entitled "Shaar Yerushalayim, Shaar Hashamayim," ("The Gate of Jerusalem, The Gate of Heaven"). The lifelike sculpture was written up in the Antiques and The Arts Weekly of the Newtown Bee (January 21, 2005 page 35). Cantor Kepecs created a series of seven Biblical oil paintings, a series of seven biblically inscribed mezuzah cases and a granite sculpture of the Ten Commandments, among many other works. Some of Cantor Kepecs' copyrighted sculptures utilize 3,300 year old Ancient Hebrew script, similar to Phoenecian Hebrew. He has also created numerous oil paintings with secular themes. His original paintings have sold for over $42,000 at auction, as reported in August 2004, in the Antiques And The Arts Online of the Newtown Bee (http://www.antiquesandthearts.com/textInfo.asp?maxvar=27115).

On 18 January, 2005, Cantor Kepecs was among a group of 141 Jewish clergy from around the world who met with Pope John Paul II in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, to thank the Pontiff for all he had done for the Jewish People and for the State of Israel in what would be the Pope's final official public meeting. Cantor Kepecs, then a member of the Presidents' Council of The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America and Canada, along with twelve other Cantors from that organization sang a Hebrew blessing to the Pontiff - "Shehecheyanu" (normally said on special occasions). Cantor Kepecs also presented Pope John Paul II with a personally designed mezuzah inscribed with the Priestly Blessing as reported in The Nassau Herald (January 27, 2005 page 3), and The Jewish Star (January 28, 2005 page 12). The Ice Mezuzah was numbered 12/72B, representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Gary Krupp, the seventh Jewish person to be knighted into the Order of St. Gregory by this Pope, offered a few words thanking the Pope for his efforts in the ongoing process of Relations between Catholicism and Judaism, and Christian-Jewish reconciliation, and for his support of the State of Israel. The Pope welcomed the Jewish audience, composed of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish leaders. The Pope noted that that year had marked the fortieth anniversary of the Vatican's landmark Nostra Aetate declaration, which rejected the charge that Jews collectively were responsible for the death of Jesus. "May this be an occasion for renewed commitment to increased understanding and co-operation in the service of building a world ever more firmly based on respect for the divine image in every human being", he said. "Upon all of you, I invoke the abundant blessings of the Almighty, and in particular, the gift of peace. Shalom Aleichem, shalom, shalom (in Hebrew: "Peace unto you. Peace. Peace")."

The Vatican had stated that no other group in the world had ever said "thank you", giving blessings to the Pope. It was the first time in history that such a large contingent of Jewish clergymen officially met with a Pope. It also marked the first time in history that Jewish cantors sang in front of a Pope at the Apostolic Palace (The Nassau Herald January 27, 2005 page 3). It was a monumental event unprecedented in Judeo-Christian history.


Cantor Kepec's Website