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Stephen Glass Biography

Stephen Glass is well-known to UK audiences as a choirmaster, accompanist and composer and the founding conductor of the Shabbaton Choir. He grew up in Wembley steeped in Synagogue music. He began playing the piano at the age of three, accompanied the Synagogue choir from age 11 and by the age of 16 he was conducting the Synagogue choir and leading the High holiday Services. He became the exclusive accompanist to Cantor Stephen Robins in over 300 concerts as well as accompanying many other cantors.

Since that time he has been writing and arranging Synagogue music. His skill at revealing the full melodic beauty of the repertoire while showing deep respect for the text as well as a highly imaginative use of harmony has made his arrangements very popular and sought after world wide.

After a music degree in East Anglia , and postgraduate courses at the Guildhall and the London College of Music studying composition, he established a new Jewish male choir, the Bnai Brith Festival Singers, in London under the auspices of the precursors of the Jewish Music Institute. The Singers made their debut at the Wigmore Hall in June 1986, and with this ensemble, Stephen conducted his own arrangements of Sefirat Ha-Omer services and first re-established the current custom of holding midnight Choral Selichot services in London Synagogues – something that has continued to this day with his choir (now called The Shabbaton Choir) under its present conductor Stephen Levey and with the patronage of the Chief Rabbi. They went on to perform at St John 's, Smith Square in 1988 with a concert called ‘The Cantorial Calendar’ with Cantor Naftali Herstik as the soloist and including the choir of the Hasmonean Boys School , that he trained for the occasion.

Sadly for the UK , there was no job available for Stephen in this country, so he left in 1989 to become the Music Director of a large Synagogue, the Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal , Canada . He is currently directing seven choirs in Montreal , including male-voice, mixed-voice, teens and children’s. Career highlights are Congregation Shaar Hashomayim’s 150th Anniversary Gala Concert and a concert celebrating Israel ’s 50th year, both with choirs and full symphony orchestra, held in the magnificent Main Sanctuary. This was a great loss to Britain

Stephen has spread his wings is eagerly sought after worldwide as an exceptional communicator, conductor, accompanist, arranger and composer of Jewish music and for his extraordinary ability to motivate and inspire young and old. He has appeared in concert with all the great names in the cantorial world and is also a regular staff and board member at the North American Jewish Choral Festival and the teen Hazamir Choral Foundation.

In 2003, a fund created in the name of his late uncle, Barry Weinberg, has enabled Stephen through the Jewish Music Institute, to come to the UK three times a year to work intensively with cantors and choirs, to re-establish the school choirs Festival and to introduce Teenage Choirs. Stephen Glass was appointed Director of the JMI Cantorial and Choral Music Section once more the UK is able to benefit from his extraordinary skills and talents.