Temple Beth El welcomes new cantor | Community Spirit

On Tuesday, July 6, Temple Beth El will officially welcome Cantor Leah Holland as its new cantor and religious education director.

Temple Beth El will then hold a special welcoming service for Cantor Holland on Friday evening, July 9, at 7:30 p.m.

Cantor Holland comes to Tacoma with credentials from the American College of Cantors.  Having decided to devote her career to Jewish music and the Jewish community, she entered cantorial school at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

During one year in Jerusalem and five years in New York City, she served as a student cantor at Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Moses Montefiore Congregation in Bloomington, Illinois.  Cantor Holland earned her Masters of Sacred Music in 2009, and was invested as a cantor in May 2010.

Cantor Holland grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, where she discovered her love of Jewish music and singing in her home temple's choirs. She was a long-time camper and counselor at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, a Reform Jewish summer camp in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Cantor Holland will be replacing Rabbi Elizabeth Wood, Temple Beth El’s current religious education director and cantorial soloist, who is moving to New York to attend cantorial school in the fall.

Photo courtesy Temple Beth El