Daniel Halfon
| Daniel Halfon | |
|---|---|
 Daniel Halfon headshot.png | |
| Born | 19 November 1955 London, UK |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Israeli / British |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Sephardi Hazzanut |
| Notable work | Kamti Lehallel - I Rise In Praise - Double CD Album |
| Style | Spanish and Portuguese |
| 🌐 Website | https://www.danielhalfon.com/ |
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Daniel Halfon (דניאל חלפון) is the Emeritus Hazzan of the Yad Harav Nissim synagogue[1] in Jerusalem and a leading authority of the cantorial style of the Western Sephardim.[2][3] A classically trained baritone, Daniel has conducted services in all of the major synagogues of the Spanish and Portuguese tradition.[4][5][1]
Biography
Hazzan Daniel Halfon was born in Hampstead, London, in 1955. His parents were Dorée (née Davis) and Joseph, a native of the Island of Rhodes [2].
Halfon received his early Jewish education in London's ancient Spanish and Portuguese community under the tutelage of Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy. From an early age he sang in the congregation’s choir, first under the direction of Abraham Lopes Dias and then Maurice Martin. As a young man, he was inspired by the artistry of the hazzanim within the community: Abraham Beniso, Halfon Benarroch, and Eliezer Abinun, with whom he studied for many years. In 1978, at the recommendation of Haham Dr Solomon Gaon, he was invited by Congregation Shearith Israel in New York to serve as assistant hazzan. This gave him the opportunity to study the New York and Amsterdam variants of the tradition with Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo.[6][7]
Professional Accomplishments
Since the mid-1980s Halfon has sung in all the major synagogues of the Spanish and Portuguese tradition, including the Esnoga in Amsterdam, Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, and the Bevis Marks and Lauderdale Road Synagogues in London[8].
For 18 years, Halfon served as the hazzan of the Yad Harav Nissim Synagogue in Jerusalem, where his command of the different nuances within the Spanish and Portuguese tradition allowed him to develop a unique repertoire[9].
Halfon teaches classes and workshops in both practical and theoretical aspects of the Spanish and Portuguese liturgical tradition.[10] He also advises faculty and students on research regarding the cantillation arts in general, and the Spanish and Portuguese liturgical tradition in particular.[11][12][13]
Halfon conducts services regularly in Jerusalem and performs in recital with the Kolot HaEsnoga Singers; a male chorus he founded in 2004, dedicated to performing music from the Spanish and Portuguese tradition.[14] In recent years he established an annual choral selichot service in the Spanish and Portuguese style that has become a feature of the Jerusalem liturgical music calendar.[15]
Among Halfon's recent projects was a commission from the Society of Heshaim in London to record the entire cycle of parashiot according to the Spanish and Portuguese rite.[16] In addition, he has recorded a comprehensive set of liturgical selections for Hazmanah LaPiyyut Utfilah.[17]
Musical Education
A trained classical baritone, Halfon studied voice in New York with Neil Semer and was coached by Kenneth Newbern. In Jerusalem he studied with Jay Shir.
Popularizing the Western Sephardi Musical Tradition
In an attempt to bring this unique musical tradition to the attention of a wider audience, Halfon secured the agreement of the Museum of the Diaspora in Tel Aviv and The Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam to produce Kamti Lehallel (I Rise in Praise) a double CD album. The critically acclaimed anthology, released in 2006, comprises 50 selections drawn from the repertoires of the three major surviving Spanish and Portuguese communities, Amsterdam, New York and London. The arrangements by Raymond Goldstein are for cantor, male chorus and instrumental ensemble.[18]
External links
Congregation Shearith Israel, New York
Saved From Extinction | Ha'aretz
A Tale of Three Cities: Sephardic Music From New York, Amsterdam and London | Jewish Daily Forward
The National Library of Israel (Hebrew)
Society of Heshaim S&P Sephardi Community, London
Sephardi Hazzan YouTube channel
References
This article "Daniel Halfon" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Daniel Halfon. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ JMWC (2007-10-21). "'Kamti Lehallel' from Beth Hatefutsoth | Jewish Music WebCenter". Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ↑ "Liturgical Musical Memory among the Spanish and Portuguese Jews | המרכז לחקר המוסיקה היהודית". jewish-music.huji.ac.il. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ↑ Shalev, Ben (2008-03-13). "Saved from extinction". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ↑ Davis, Jean-Gabriel (2017-04-27). "Hidden sides of Jewish music : Daniel Halfon". Institut Européen des Musiques Juives. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ↑ Marks, Essica (2018). "Musical Characteristics of Spanish–Portuguese Biblical Cantillation". Israel Studies in Musicology Online. 14.
- ↑ dbs.anumuseum.org.il https://dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e263980/Personalities/Daniel_Halfon. Retrieved 2024-03-20. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Marks, Essica (2021). "Music, History, and Culture in Sephardi Jewish Prayer Chanting". Religions. 12 (9): 700. doi:10.3390/rel12090700. ProQuest 2576402260.
- ↑ "A Tale of Three Cities: Sephardic Music From New York, Amsterdam and London". The Forward. 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ↑ dbs.anumuseum.org.il https://dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e263980/Personalities/Daniel_Halfon. Retrieved 2024-03-26. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "SHIN-SBN CLASS (MOWST): KABBALAT SHABBAT SERIES w/ Hazzan Daniel Halfon". Sephardic Heritage International (SHIN) DC. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ↑ Marks, Essica. "MUSIC, HISTORY AND IDENTITY IN THE LITURGY OF THE SPANISH-PORTUGUESE JEWS". Academia.edu.
- ↑ Sephardic Influences in theLiturgy of Ashkanzic Orthodox Jews of London. McGill University
- ↑ Marks, Essica (September 2021). "Music, History, and Culture in Sephardi Jewish Prayer Chanting". Religions. 12 (9): 700. doi:10.3390/rel12090700. ISSN 2077-1444.
- ↑ "Israeli | Jewish Music WebCenter". 2015-04-29. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ↑ Staff, D. C. A. (2013-08-21). "Choral Spanish/Portuguese Selichot". David Cardozo Academy. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ↑ "Sephardi Music - Parasha".
- ↑ "חפשו דניאל חלפון בקטלוג הספרייה הלאומית". merhav.nli.org.il (in עברית). Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ↑ "A Tale of Three Cities: Sephardic Music From New York, Amsterdam and London". The Forward. 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
