Adult Semi Finalists:
Ami Eller –A
music fan from day one, fifteen year old Ami is no stranger to the stage or the
recording studio, having performed live with some of Jewish music’s biggest
stars including Benny Friedman, Baruch Levine and Srully Williger and has sung
at weddings, dinners and Bar Mitzvahs.
Ami was a star soloist in Kol Noar Boys Choir, has been a soloist on six
other albums, including Shloime Gertner’s Say Asay, two AKA Pella albums, Shea
Rubenstein’s Ohavti and Shua Kessin’s Lo L’hityaesh and has recorded vocals for
two additional albums that have not yet been released. An avid piano player for more than half his
life, Ami is teaching himself to play guitar and has composed several songs
which he dedicated to the choson and kallah at his siblings’ and cousins’
weddings.
“Being a semi-finalist is amazing,” said Ami. “I have been
to Brooklyn College for so many concerts.
The idea that I will be singing on the same stage as the biggest names
in Jewish music is awesome. While I may
be the youngest adult contestant, music inspires people of all ages, from my
one year old niece who wants to hear Ya’alili over and over again to my Zaidy,
whose biggest pleasure is singing zemiros with his grandchildren. It is a direct path to our neshamos and our
hearts and a way of bringing us closer to Hashem. More than anything, I want to thank the
coordinators, producers and sponsors of A Jewish Star for giving me and my
fellow contestants a chance to follow our dreams.”
Choni Goldman –
One of eleven children, twenty eight year old Choni is the Cultural Officer at
the Israeli Embassy in South Africa and serves as the Chazan at Chabad of
Sandton in Johannesburg after doing a three and a half year stint as
Choirmaster in the Pretoria Shul. He has
been singing since childhood, both in Shul and in school choirs and sang with
Mordechai Ben David at a concert in South Africa. Choni loves African harmonies, plays some
percussion and confesses to being extremely adept at drumming on the
table. Choni aspires to become a
recording and performing artist.
Extremely happy to have made it to the semi finals, Choni is
aiming to win this year’s competition with a great performance and after flying
in from South Africa, he hopes he is over his jetlag on the night of the
concert. He has a deep passion for
Judaism, the Jewish people, Israel, the Grand Rabbi and is a keen tennis player
who enjoys dmc’s and invites his fans to friend him on Facebook.
“Get my autograph before the concert,” advises Choni with a
smile.
Dovi Minkowicz - Thirty three year old businessman Dovi
Minkowicz is a father of five who loves to practice the cantorial art fused
with a taste of modern Jewish music, blending the best of both worlds. In addition to having davened at Shuls all
across the globe, Dovi has appeared with both Avraham Fried and Mordechai Ben
David and plays the piano as well.
Dovi admits to being surprised that the judges selected his
more chazanish voice over the more classical pop voices of some of the other
contestants. He hopes to further impress
the crowd and the judges with the same quality that they recognized in his
audition video.
“I am super excited about the Jewish Star concert,”
confessed Dovi. “It is surely going to
be different and electrifying. Good
Jewish music isn’t a myth, it is very real.
Everyone was curious why Yossi Green was so hung up on singers
connecting with their songs. The truth
is, he is completely correct. Feeling,
understand and expressing the song, with or without lyrics, is the magic of
music.”
Moshe Biton –
Born to immigrant Moroccan parents, thirty one year old Moshe was raised in a
new immigrant section of Tiberias called Shikun Dalet and learned to sing in
Shul, as singing is an integral part of prayer for Moroccan Jews. The father of two children, ages five and
three, Moshe works as a Mashgiach in a Chinese Kosher restaurant and loves to
sing Jewish Oriental tunes and religious poems, but has also sung at weddings,
Sheva Brachos and the Yahrtzeits of tzaddikum like the Yom Hilula of the Baba
Sali.
“Tiberias a small development town, with not too much
contact with the outside world, but my friends say I have a good voice,” said
Moshe. “My father in law suggested I try
the Jewish Star and Baruch Hashem, I am in.
I pray that someone takes an interest in me but most importantly, I hope
my singing brings Jews closer to their Father in Heaven and awaken their
souls. I know it sounds silly, but
that’s what I want to accomplish.
Finally, always remember: All
Jews are Jewish Stars.”
Pinchas Tsinman
– A twenty seven year old resident of
Pinsk, Pinchas Tsinman works for the local community, as a teacher in both the
Jewish school and kollel, runs the Pinsk Beit Chabad and is the father of an
eight month old baby boy named Avrom Michoel. Pinchas went to music school as a
child where he studied both flute and guitar and played in the school band at
various concerts dedicated to Jewish holidays.
While Pinchas had already composing his own music for quite some time,
it wasn’t until he went to yeshiva that his music began to take on a new
dimension, reflecting his newfound love for Yiddishkeit. Pinchas hopes that his music will invigorate
people who think that Judaism is boring and dated and hopes to record albums in
order to be able to reach an even larger audience.
Pinchas admits that he never expected to be chosen as a
semi-finalist because of the language barrier.
“I thought that my style wouldn’t be a fit for this project
and that people would not be able to value my song because of the Russian
words,” said Pinchas, who submitted a translation of his lyrics with his video
submission. “I am trying to translate
parts of my song into English but I hope that when words come from my heart
they will reach the hearts of others and everybody will understand my
message. I want to thank A Jewish Star
for all their help and hope that my music will bring every Jew closer to
yiddishkeit, which will reveal Moshiach in our world, soon in our days.”
Shimi Markovich –
An importer of medical supplies who devotes his nights to learning, twenty four
year old Shimi is the father of a baby boy named Aby. He has been singing since he was a child and
has performed in school choirs and at weddings.
Shimi has his own music studio and plays piano, guitar and drums.
“I would love to be able to share my music with the world
and succeed in the Jewish music business,” said Shimi. “I think A Jewish Star is a great opportunity
for people to be able to show their talent to the world and let them decide if
they would like to hear more from you in the future. I want to thank everyone who voted for me and
I hope to do my best at the upcoming Jewish Star concert.”
Shmueli Schwartz - A twenty seven year old social worker for
the Jewish Home of the Aging in Los Angeles, Shmueli is currently enrolled in
the Yeshiva University semicha program.
Married for just two month to his wife Raquel, Shmueli has in his own
words, “twenty kids on the way.”
Shmueli comes from a family of singers and was trained by
his own father at the Shabbos table. He
composes his own music on the piano and has been singing in community choirs
and at chupahs for years. Shmueli hopes
to bring people closer to Hashem with his compositions and his Jewish Star
submission was an original song written both as a hesped to the Fogel family
who was murdered in Itamar last year and as a way to help both Jews and
non-Jews experience the tragedy on an emotional level.
“I appreciate becoming a semi-finalist,” said Shmueli. “I hope it can help my music career and I
want to give concerts both locally and internationally. I think there is a lot of talent being
displayed at the Jewish Star concert and that regardless of who wins or loses,
it is an experience in and of itself.”
Yehoshua Solomon
– A Jewish music teacher at Brooklyn’s Yeshiva Derech HaTorah and a counselor
and musical director at Chaim Day Camp, thirty five year old Yehoshua hopes to
bring simcha to as many Yidden as possible as both a singer and a
keyboardist. Yehoshua performed as a
member of the Pirchei Boys Choir in A Time for Music 2 and as a member of the
Miami Voice Symphony at Miami Experience IV and V and would love to release a
single or an album one day.
Despite his many years experience, Yehoshua confessed to
being both nervous and excited about the upcoming Jewish Star finale and
expressed gratitude to his audio and video producers as well as Hashem
Yisborach for helping him get to the semi final round and giving the public a
chance to see him as a lead singer instead of just an instrumentalist.
“Looking at the videos I see there is some really good
talent and even if I don’t win I will get great exposure. I always dreamed of singing onstage as a
youngster, but never had a solo performance like this in front of a large
audience. I believe my mother, a’h,
would be very proud of me and I’m sure she’s smiling down from Shomayim,
shepping nachas.”
Junior Semi Finalists
Dovid Markovits –
A resident of Kew Garden Hills, Queens, Dovid was born in Jerusalem in 1999 and
is twelve years old. The oldest of three children, Dovid has a nine year old
sister named Esther Leah and a six year old brother named Chezky.
Dovid attends Yeshivah Ketana of Queens and has been a singer since he was
three years old, performing at family gatherings and weddings. At the age of
six Dovid joined the Chazak Boys Choir conducted by Ofi Nat and spent summers
honing his singing skills, earning a chance to sing a duet with Avraham Fried
at one of the Chazak summer concerts.
More recently he has recorded and performed with Yitzy Bald and the New
York Boys Choir. Under Yitzy's mentorship, Dovid has learned musical
arrangement and has greatly expanded his vocal skills. In addition to his love
for music, Dovid is busy preparing for his Bar Mitzvah which will take place on
Shabbos Nachamu 2012, where he plans to lein Parshas V'eschanan.
Dovid recently started learning how to play the piano and guitar and looks
forward to developing his skills on those instruments as he continues to expand
his musical talent.
Dovid is grateful to the producers of the Jewish Star competition for this
opportunity. He has had a great experience thus far and looks forward to being
a part of an amazing concert on March 19th.
Mendel Piekarski
– A sixth grader at Yeshiva Oholei Torah and the oldest of three children,
twelve year old Mendel already has a long musical resume. He sang with Temimim and Sparks Boys Choirs,
produced his own album (which is not available for sale), performed at the
Tzivos Hashem BAM Theater in 2011 and Tzivos Hashem Dinner at the New York
Hilton in 2012, is featured in an upcoming music video and is the voice orator
for Jewish Education Media’s Living Torah museum, doing the weekly childrens’
narration. Mendel, who took drums as a
youngster and plays piano by ear, aspires to maximize his talent as a young
star and child prodigy and perhaps return to the Jewish music one day as an
adult.
Mendel is very excited both to be a finalist and to have the
opportunity to work alongside with his fellow competitors. He looks forward to connecting with the
audience at the Jewish Star finale and hopes to be able to touch the hearts of
everyone at the concert.
Mendy Antelis –
Fourteen year old Mendy is a student at Jewish Education Center (JEC) in
Elizabeth, New Jersey and is the seventh of nine children. A member of an
extremely musical family, he has performed at family events as well as at
Queens College. Mendy hopes to release a
debut album and continue to work on and improve all aspects of his musical
endeavors.
“I’m honored and excited to be one of the semi finalists and
I can’t wait to meet the other contestants and judges,” said Mendy. “I look forward to performing and rocking the
house at the Jewish Star concert and am thankful for the opportunity to be part
of this competition. Thanks to all those
who have supported me thus far. I can’t wait for perform in front of all of
you!”
Shlomo Skolnik –
A former member of Yeshiva Boys Choir who sang on the HASC stage and performed
with Shlomo Schwed, fifteen year old Shlomo has seven brothers and one
sister. Shlomo is a ninth grader at
Yeshiva of Far Rockaway who loves sports and hopes to one day release an
enjoyable album that will appeal to Jewish music lovers.
“It is really amazing to have been chosen as a Jewish Star semi-finalist
because it must mean I have some talent,” said Shlomo.
As for the upcoming Jewish Star finale, Shlomo had only two
words.
“Can’t wait!!”
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