Sol Zim (born Solomon Zimelman on August 17, 1939) is an American

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. He lives in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Is ...

. Sol Zim is known for his classic Jewish songs. He is considered to be one of the most important Jewish cantors. Sol Zim has been featured in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, Daily News,

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

and newspapers from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Notable works

In 1960, he performed with the Jewish Minister Cantor Association at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

. In the late 1970s, many Jewish rock operas were produced, David Superstar, one of the most important was composed by Sol Zim. It is said that this is the first Jewish rock opera. It was performed one night at the

Hollis Hills Jewish Center Congregation Etz Hayim at Hollis Hills Bayside is a synagogue located in the neighborhood of Hollis Hills in Queens, New York. Congregation Etz Hayim at Hollis Hills Bayside is an egalitarian synagogue providing worship in the Conservative tradit ...

in 1974. He also was part of a Jewish group that performed in front of the

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, being the first time in history that such a large group of Jewish clergy men officially met with a Pope. Sol Zim is Professor of Jewish Music in New York at the Academy for Jewish Religion. He has been featured on books about Jewish music like "And You Shall Know Us By The Trail Of Our Vinyl". He has also written books on Jewish music. In 1992, the Academy for Jewish Religion of New York added a Cantorial Program directed by Kenneth Cohen, which was further developed by Sol Zim and Ram’n Tasat.

Education

Sol Zim graduated at the Jewish Theological Seminary Cantorial Institute, and he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music. Zim studied with other musicians as

Kurt Baum Kurt Baum (March 15, 1900 – December 27, 1989) was an Austria-Hungary born American operatic tenor. He is best remembered for his 25 seasons spent with the Metropolitan Opera, between 1941 and 1966. Life and career Born ethnic German-Jewis ...

Julius Rudel Julius Rudel (6 March 1921 – 26 June 2014) was an Austrian-born American opera and orchestra conductor. He was born in Vienna and was a student at the city's Academy of Music. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 17 in 1938 after th ...

, Samuel Weisser, and others.

Family

Sol Zim is the descendant of five generations of cantors. Zim's father, Samuel Zimelman, served as cantor of the Hochschule Synagogue in

Łomazy Łomazy is a village in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Łomazy. It lies approximately south of Biała Podlaska and north-east of the regional c ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, and Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metro ...

.Samuel Zimelman, Long a Cantor And Father of 2 Leading Cantors
. ''The New York Times''. July 7, 1980. p. D13. Zim's brother,

Paul Zim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

, has served as cantor for B'nai Jeshurun in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. Zim's other brother, Sidney Zim, was the rabbi at Flatbush Jewish Center in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

Awards

*"Hazzan Max Wohlberg Award" for Composition, from The Cantors Assembly. *"The Yuval Award" for his contribution to Synagogue Music, from The Cantors Assembly. *The Jewish Music Leadership Award, for his advancement of Jewish Music throughout the world, from The Academy for Jewish Religion. *The Amit Humanities Award, in recognition of his achievements in preserving the Jewish Heritage for future generations through his musical work. *Honorary fellow of the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Discography

*Shabbat Rock: An Original Friday Evening Rock (1974) *Joy of Shabbos: A Family Singalong (1978) *Chanukah: A Children's Sing Along (1979) *Family Celebration (1986) *Live in Concert (1991) *Passover Seder: A Passover Sing-Along (1997) *The Joy of Israel: Jewish-Israeli Ballads *The Joy Of Cantorial Prayer (2000) *Cantor Sol Zim Sings Avinu Shebashamayim: A Prayer for the State of Israel, and Much More (2013). *Jewish Memories of Papa *Greatest Yiddish Memories *The Joy Of Israel: Jewish-Israeli Ballads *America's Best Loved Jewish Singer Sings *Sings Jewish MemoriesZim, Sol.
Sings Jewish Memories
'. Zimray Enterprises Inc.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zim, Sol Jewish American musicians 1939 births Living people People from Queens, New York Singers from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews