Barbara Mazer Gross, Cantorial Soloist (Contemporary Style)
Barbara Mazer Gross has been a classically trained soloist, songleader, music teacher, and choir director since 1995. Barbara began her musical training in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, where she was a regional songleader for the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY).

Barbara attended Washington University in St. Louis and received undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Music (Classical Voice), and also received her Master’s degree in Psychology. Barbara was a Cantorial soloist and songleader at five St. Louis Jewish congregations and directed a children’s choir. She also taught Sunday School music and was the camp songleader for the Jewish Community Center’s day camps.

After leaving St. Louis, Barbara was a program coordinator for the Jewish Community Center in Columbus, Ohio from 1999 to 2002. She continued her work as a Cantorial Soloist at two Reform congregations, as well as teaching guitar lessons and creating two choirs, one for children and one for adults.

Upon relocation to Florida, Barbara was the Cantorial Soloist and Program Director for Temple B’nai Israel for two years before leaving the Jewish music field to pursue non-profit arts management. Barbara was on staff of American Stage for three seasons before becoming the Director of Development of Ruth Eckerd Hall in 2007. She continues her involvement with Jewish music as a Cantorial Soloist at Temple Beth-El as performances with the Jammin Jews.

Barbara lives in St. Petersburg with her husband, Dr. John Gross.

Shoshana Shay, Cantorial Soloist (Classical Style)
Shoshana Shay was raised in eastern Pennsylvania and graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a music major from Haverford College. For ten years she was alternately soprano and mezzo soloist at Congregation Beth Sholom in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, and sang as Cantorial Soloist or in professional quartets at many of the synagogues in the Philadelphia area. Last year she participated as our soprano in Temple Beth-El’s professional quartet singing for the  High Holy Day services.  In 2005, she also appeared at Temple Beth-El in our Gala Musical Evening.

As a professionally trained classical singer, Shoshana has performed widely both in the U.S.A. and abroad, and in 1992 presented concerts in Guangxi Province, China as the first Western performer in the region.  Her operatic roles have included dramatic heroines such as Tosca, Aida, Musetta, Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera) and Madama Butterfly in New York, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Edinburgh, Scotland.  She also enjoys introducing unusual music to new listeners in a variety of eclectic song recitals.  Her recordings include Love Songs of Robert Burns; The Thistle & the Rose, Songs of Robert Burns, Revelation in the Courthouse Park(world premiere), and Shimon Gewirtz’s Your People Are Mine.  Shoshana works for a non-profit educational organization in St. Petersburg.

Jan Whittaker, Organist
Jan Whittaker comes from New Hampshire.  She began music studies at the age of 8 and took her professional education at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Mass., majoring in organ, piano and voice.  Jan has had a full career of church and temple work along with a private music studio for all those years.  Jan was professor of organ at Notre Dame College, Manchester, NH for many years.  She was a popular recitalist and accompanist and a founding member of the Souhegan Madrigal and Recorder Consortium.

Jan retired as Organist/Director of Music Emeritus of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua, NH, after serving there for 31 years.   She has also served in that capacity at Temple Adath Yeshurun of Manchester, NH for her entire career.   She was organist for the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Concord, NH for 9 years, after retiring from the Unitarian position,  She helped direct the rebuilding of their pipe organ, the largest in New England, after the Mother Church in Boston.

Since coming to Florida she became an active substitute in local churches.  Jan is now organist at the Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church (UCC)  and recently became organist at Temple Beth El during the recent High Holy Day services.  She is an active member of the St. Petersburg chapter of the American Guild of Organists.