Our Rabbi
Our Rabbis are students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Helping to train new Rabbis is an important part of our mission. We are inspired by the fresh perspective each new student brings to us as we learn from one another.
In the Fall of 2021, Ada Luisa Sinacore (known as Luisa), who is currently completing her third year at HUC, will be joining us. Luisa is a Jewish innovator, devoted to social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion work. After graduating with First Class Honours from McGill University, Luisa spent the bulk of her professional career building creative and inclusive spaces for young adults. For example, Luisa worked at Hillel Montreal, aiding students to develop ties with the larger Montreal Jewish community through Jewish education, community development and spirituality. Over the course of her tenure, Hillel Montreal became the first Canadian Institution to participate in the Ruderman Ambassador Program. In addition, she stewarded several initiatives such as JQueer and Arts L’Kol. Luisa also built and chaired Next Dor, a progressive, pluralistic Jewish community group for individuals aged 18-40. A devoted spiritual leader and a gifted vocalist, she was featured in a CBC documentary about religious music entitled, Daughters of the Voice (click here for the trailer). The recipient of the JCF Community Leadership Award, Luisa is now completing her third year of rabbinical school at HUC-JIR and beginning the Tisch Fellowship program. Impassioned by community work, Luisa is excited to be joining the NFRS community in the coming year as the student Rabbi.
Our Cantor – Ilana Davidson
Cantor Ilana has been with us since the spring of 2017. In addition to her work as a cantorial soloist, she is a champion of Jewish music. Her father is the esteemed Cantor and composer Hazzan Charles Davidson. Ilana joins us for the High Holidays and at select services and special concerts throughout the year.
Ilana has enjoyed a busy schedule of opera, concerts, and recitals, performing repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque to the 20th and 21st centuries, both here and abroad. Her performances have included William Bolcom’s Songs Of Innocence and of Experience conducted by Leonard Slatkin at Carnegie Hall which earned 4 Grammy Awards.
Highlights include Carnegie Hall performances of Mona Lisa (Von Schillings), Der Diktator (Krenek) and Songs From Jewish Folk Poetry (Shostakovich) with the American Symphony Orchestra and TON, a debut with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Mahler Symphony No. 4 with Keith Lockhart at the Brevard Music Festival.
Ilana has been featured on several commercial recordings including works of Bolcom, Krenek, Weill, Zorn, Britten, Elwood, and more. She has been recognized in several competitions, and was recently awarded a BRIO award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, and received the first prize in the Mostly Mozart Competition of Philadelphia and a Sullivan Foundation recipient.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ilana used her time to explore new repertoire and also create a home recording studio to explore new mediums for communicating her voice, new sounds, and familiar repertoire. She is excited to being booking engagements through the 2022/2023 season.
Ilana received a Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and received an undergraduate degree in Voice Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. Ilana is the artistic director of ClassicalCafé, a music series dedicated to bringing chamber music to intimate settings.