01
Favorite Am Shalom Tradition
It’s super difficult to pick just one, but I do love summer Shabbatot outside in the beautiful Perlmutter Courtyard!
02
What Brings you Jewish Joy
Israel! Jewish community! Sharing Judaism through MUSIC!! Jewish travel!
03
Favorite Jewish Food
Anything with zaatar!
04
When did you decide your role in Jewish communal service was the right path for you?
On a Shabbat morning circa 1983 in Toledo, OH, I had an epiphany. I would become the first female rabbi! Upon discovering that history was already made, I found a new outlet: singing. That passion led me to phenomenal training programs, NYC, and musical stages across the country and around the world. While on many levels, I thrived, something was missing. Long story short and after many years, I realized I needed to unify my interests and utilize my gifts and experiences toward doing something that contributed positively toward building a better world and community. As a Cantor, these things perfectly intersected; and I found that the bima, not the stage, was my calling, destiny, and purpose.
Prior to ordination, Cantor Markowicz toured Israel in 1776, the United States in Camelot, starring Robert Goulet, and in the musical Anne Frank: A Voice Heard. Favorite regional productions include Hair, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, The Boyfriend, The Gondoliers, The Magic Flute, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music of the Night. Other notable credits include Noel Coward’s Centennial Celebration at Carnegie Hall and the ESPY Awards at Radio City Music Hall. A sought-after concert performer, productions include Shalom Broadway with Broadway Pops International, Beyond Fiddler: A Journey through Jewish Musical Theater, The Whole Megillah: The Story of Yiddish Theatre, Violins of Hope-Voices of Faith, and Stars of David.
Through the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Cantor Markowicz advised on content for the URJ’s machzor, Mishkan HaNefesh for Youth, and her voice is featured on the app and e-book Birkon Mikdash M’at-NFTY’s Bencher. She served as adjunct instructor at HUC-JIR and as past member of HUC-JIR’s Alumni Leadership Council. For the ACC, she co-chaired, produced, and directed the 2018 Jack Gottlieb Memorial Concert; co-chaired the 2024 Mission to Israel; and edited Kolot HaDorot: Voices of the Generations celebrating 50 years of women in the cantorate (2025).
Cantor Markowicz is the soloist on Tikvah (Albany Records), a multimedia musical oratorio inspired by her grandfather, Philip Markowicz (z”l), a Holocaust survivor, author, and Torah scholar; and is proud to have recorded and produced six albums via Music at Am Shalom (available to stream via soundcloud.com/am-shalom/albums).
