Elliot Z. Levine was a faculty member at the 2012, 2016 and 2018 Australian Jewish Choral Festivals, and will join us for both Parts 1 and 2 of The Odyssey of Voices. Elliot was a founding member and resident composer of the Grammy-nominated New York vocal ensemble The Western Wind, for 45 years. He now resides in Los Angeles, but still joins them for select performances. A Masters graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Elliot has been a featured soloist with many ensembles, including the Rome Opera and the Folger Consort. He is a longstanding educator of summer vocal ensemble workshops at Smith College, Massachusetts, and a regular presenter at the North American Jewish Choral Festival. He is a respected and prolific contributor to contemporary liturgical repertoire.
Kelly Shepard was a faculty member at the 2018 and 2023 Australian Jewish Choral Festivals, and joins us for Part 2 of The Odyssey of Voices. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Music Education (High Distinction) from Indiana University School of Music. He has sung professionally for 30 years: opera, musicals and barbershop, and directed many choirs, conducting choral works in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera House. As Head of Department, Kelly built a performing arts program at Milken Community Schools, the largest Jewish Day School in the USA, where he served as Musical Director for all the musicals. Kelly founded, and for 15 years led the Los Angeles chapter of HaZamir, the International Teen Choir founded under the umbrella of the Zamir Choral Foundation, and has also been a regular presenter at the North American Jewish Choral Festival. He and his family now reside in Brisbane.
Michel Laloum heads the Australasian Music Network of the Union for Progressive Judaism, and will be in Adelaide for Part 1 of The Odyssey of Voices. He was ordained as a Cantor at Hebrew Union College and completed rabbinic studies at the Academy for Jewish Religion and the Jewish Theological Seminary. He serves as Cantor at Temple Beth Israel, Melbourne. He holds degrees in music and philosophy, and studied in Israeli Yeshivot and American progressive institutions. Born in Belgium and raised in Australia, he has worked in Israel, France and New York. His influences include Yiddish and Sephardic languages and culture.
Andrea Catzel is Choir Director of Emanuel Synagogue, Woollahra. Originally from Cape Town, Andrea is an internationally acclaimed opera singer who has sung numerous opera, operetta and concert performances in South Africa, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Holland and Iceland. Besides many radio broadcasts, Andrea has recorded six CDs, which include Spanish art songs, Verdi’s Requiem, and two albums of Respighi songs for the Dutch Channel Classic Label. Andrea is a German diction coach and specialist vocal coach and teaches Voice at Emanuel School and privately.