Eliezer Kepecs

Entrepeneur

For KEPECS GENEALOGY, go to the link http://www.genealogy.com/users/k/e/p/Lawrence-eliezer-Kepecs/ Click on the links below to listen to Cantor Eliezer Kepecs sing live in concert Cantorial Music (Hazzanut), Hebrew, and Yiddish songs: LO TEIDA MILCHAMA-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468558 SHIR HAMA'ALOS-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468558 HALLELU ES HASHEM-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468647 AD HEINA AZARUNU-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468647 V'LIRUSHALAYIM IRCHA-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468647 CHAZZONIM OIF PROBE-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468831 TOV L'HODOS-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468831 SH'MA YISROEL-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468870 RACHEM NO-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=468870 EILU D'VARIM-- http://www.jukeboxalive.com/audio_play_offsite.php?mid=470115 Click on the links below to listen to Eliezer Kepecs sing Italian and French Opera, and Neapolitan songs (it may take 40 seconds to load): CORE N'GRATO by Salvatore Cardillo-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsarias/Track01CoreNGrato.mp3 UNA FURTIVA LAGRIMA from L'Elisir D'amore by Gaetano Donizetti-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsongs/Track02UnaFurtivaLagrima.mp3 LIBIAMO from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecscantorial/Track03Libiamo.mp3 MAMMA by Cesare Andrea Bixio-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsarias/Track04Mamma.mp3 TARANTELLA LA DANZA by Gioacchino Rossini-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsongs/2LaDanza2000.mp3 NESSUN DORMA from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini-- http://www.geocities.com/kepecsarias/Track05NessunDorma.mp3 RECITAR (Vesti La Giubba) from Pagliacci by Giuseppe Verdi-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecscantorial/Track07Recitar.mp3 DICITENCELLO VUIE by Rodolfo Falvo-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecscantorial/Track10DicitencelloVuie.mp3 E LUCEVAN LE STELLE from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsongs/ELucevanleStelleTosca2001.mp3 THE FLOWER SONG from Carmen by Georges Bizet (French)-- http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsings/LaFleurCarmen2001.mp3 LA SPAGNOLA by Vincenzo Chiari-- http://www.geocities.com/kepecsings/Track12LaSpagnola.mp3 CITARRA ROMANA by Eldo di Lazzaro--http://us.share.geocities.com/kepecsongs/Track09ChitarraRomana.mp3 Click on the links below to WATCH VIDEO of Cantor Eliezer Kepecs singing live in concert: MIN HAMETZAR (Montreal)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2900049 HALLELU ES HASHEM (Montreal)-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS9-7gqgUHQ MIZMOR SHIR L'YOM HASHABBAT (Montreal)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2901190 SHEHECHEYANU (Toronto)-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oultdZhJScU YIBONE HAMIKDASH (Montreal)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2899831 V'LIRUSHALAYIM IRCHO (New York)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2901332 V'LIRUSHALAYIM IRCHO (Rome)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2901355 MIZMOR SHIR CHANUKAT HABAYIT (New York)-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HTTv54lCW4 AD HENA AZARUNU (Toronto)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2902070 ZACHARTI LACH (New York)-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uRhLO7VJkE EILU D'VARIM (Toronto)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2902094 LA DANZA (New York)-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzhQ-AcxcVY FUNICULI FUNICULA (New York)-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivb5kQ3WIRg LA SPAGNOLA (Montreal)-- http://www.ifilm.com/profile/ekepecs/video/2901209 Cantor Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs was born in New York City and is a Hazzan (synagogue cantor) and fine artist. He is the son of Walter and Rosa Kepecs, and married to Melissa Wind. He attended Westchester Day School and Westchester Hebrew High School, paying special attention to acting, singing, and art. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Yeshiva College, a Bachelor of Science in Jewish History, and a Hebrew Teacher's Diploma from Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies at Yeshiva University in 1992, while studying to be a Hazzan at the Belz School of Jewish Music of Yeshiva University. He completed his Rabbinic Semicha studies at The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism in 2006, and was awarded Orthodox Semicha (Yoreh Yoreh) from Tiffereth Yisroel Yeshiva in 2007. Cantor Kepecs has performed in concerts worldwide as an operatic tenor, with a repertoire that includes Cantorial, Yiddish, Israeli, Neapolitan Folk songs, as well as Italian, French, American, and German opera. He was written up in numerous publications, including The Jewish Press when he debuted in Toronto, Canada in a concert held at Congregation Shaarei Shomayim; The Nassau Herald, for a tribute concert in memory of the renowned Cantors Tibor Kelen, and Chaskele Ritter; and The Jewish Week when he sang in a Hannukah concert for The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism also dedicating a wall of honor mentioned below, among other periodicals. Cantor Kepecs was one of ten finalists in a cantorial competition hosted by Cantors World at Congregation Beth Israel in Brooklyn, on March 20, 2005. From 1996-2009, Cantor Kepecs has served as Cantor and educator, teaching Bar and Bat Mitzvah classes, Judaic classes, and running adult education programs. He has served as Cantor of Des Moines' Beth Jacob Congregation, Baltimore's Beth T'filoh Congregation and B'nei Israel Congregation, Brooklyn's Kingsway Jewish Center, and Yonkers' Orthodox Community of Colonial Heights. He helped train and sang with the Russian Evocans Chorale, the Yeshiva Mizrachi L'banim boys choir, and the HAFTR Boys Choir. He led High Holyday services with the Beth T'filoh Choral Ensemble of Baltimore, Maryland in 1995, and sang in a concert in Montreal, with Montreal's Shaar Hashomayim Choral Society on October 12, 1999. He was selected to officiate at services for the 96th Annual Convention of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. He has sung at New York's Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center and Merkin Hall. He also sang at The Colden Center Auditorium, and Lefrack Hall of Queens College, in a Passover musical entitled "A Seder in a Flat," and appeared in the movie "A Stranger Among Us." On 17 January, 2005, Cantor Kepecs sang in the Great Synagogue of Rome in an ecumenical cantorial concert that was televised throughout Italy. This concert was designed to help build bridges of understanding with other religions, and Vatican officials were among those in attendance. He has sung before dignitaries and heads of state, such as Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See His Excellency Oded Ben Hur, H.E. Israeli Minister Moshe Aumann, U.S. Congressman Charles Schumer, Nassau County Executive Thomas S. Golatta, Nassau County Supervisor Kate Murray, U.S. Congresswoman Caroline McCarthy, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and New York City Mayor Rudolph Guilianni among others. In 2004, Cantor Kepecs was appointed "Professor of Liturgical Music" at The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism. He is one of it's founders, and also served on its Board of Directors. Cantor Kepecs is currently the Vice President of the Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America, the oldest cantorial organization in existance, spanning over a century (1897), and which has seen such illustrious members as Cantors Moshe and David Koussevitsky, Yossele Rosenblatt, Zavel Kwartin, Mordechai Hershman, Ben Zion Kapov Kagan, Berele Chagy, and Chaskele Ritter to name a few. Cantor Kepecs has helped organize, produce, and perform in concerts for Meir Panim soup kitchens in Israel, in campaigns for "Feed the Hungry Children", written up in the Five Towns Jewish Times, and The Jewish Week. In December 2006, he sang in a concert at Merkin Hall in New York City designed to raise money for the plight of Gush Katif refugees in Israel. Cantor Kepecs' singing credits include a musical album produced by the Cantorial Council of America "In Concert," - completed March 1993, an album produced by The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America & Canada "The 2003 Cantors Concert" - recorded live March 4, 2003, and a recording of the opera "The Eglantine," in August 2005. Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs performed the leading tenor role of Gershon, in The World Premiere performances of the new American opera, "The Eglantine," in August 2005. The first opera of its kind, it is a very moving story taking place in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust era of 1943; music written and directed by Sam Belich, and libretto by Sam Belich and Keith Green. In October 2006, Cantor Kepecs toured Israel with The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America, singing in concerts in Haifa, and Jerusalem. These concerts were sponsored by the Israeli Government: The Jerusalem Municipality, and Ministry of Tourism in Israel. REVIEWS OF THE EGLANTINE OPERA on November 20, 2005 I took my two oldest children to the performance. Zachary (12 years old) had told me that he really wanted to go because he felt that it was something that had to be seen.  Although I had some trepidations taking Samantha (10 years old) knowing that it was a very heavy subject and perhaps disturbing as well she convinced me that she needed to see it because the subject of the Holocaust interested her. I figured that we could always leave at intermission if we needed to. We stayed. And if we could we would see it again on Tuesday night-my children included. The story is riveting, the voices amazing, and even without sets you can be transported to a time that we have been taught to make sure we don't forget. Soon the generation who has first hand knowledge of the atrocities will not be able to tell the stories themselves. I sincerely hope that Eglantine will be performed over and over again on as many stages as possible. It deserves to be for its beauty (and ugliness) and what it achieves in the power of its telling. Many thanks to Cantor Kepecs, the entire company, and everyone involved in this project not just for bringing it to Temple Hillel but for having the courage to be a part of an opera such as this. I am not generally a "fan" of opera but I say to anyone who hasn't seen this yet...GO. You really would be missing out on something truly special. -Melissa Gates The performance was absolutely brilliant. Our Temple should be very proud of our Cantor and his hard work in bringing such extraordinary talent to our Temple. Hopefully, everyone on the Board will have the opportunity to see this very touching, moving performance. While all of the performers were superb, Cantor Kepecs' rendition of the song "papa" was so moving that my wife, mother-in-law and I were brought to tears. -Stuart Perlmutter Cantor Kepecs' performace of Gershon was something to be remembered. Cantor Kepecs, who brought all his talents together in this very first operatic role demonstrated great potential as an opera singer. His voice has a beautiful quality and Kepecs was able to hold his own next to very experienced operatic voices. He should keep taking on different roles. Eli is also a talented artist, respected Cantor (who met the Pope before his passing and gave him a M'zuzah) and is also a Professor of Cantorial music. Congratulations on a great performance. Hazak Ve'ematz. -Cantor David M. Presler, M.S. Doctoral Candidate, Yeshiva University TO LISTEN TO SOUND CLIPS OF CANTOR KEPECS IN THE EGLANTINE OPERA, CLICK ON THIS LINK: http://www.theeglantine.com/soundclips.html Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs' Art Works Cantor Kepecs (who signs his art works LKepecs) was commissioned by The American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism to design and build a wall of honor for fundraising. This 20-foot-long handmade wall is made to look like the imaginary "Jerusalem Gate", entitled "Shaar Yerushalayim, Shaar Hashamayim," ("The Gate of Jerusalem, The Gate of Heaven"). The lifelike sculpture was written up in the Antiques and The Arts Weekly of the Newtown Bee (January 21, 2005 page 35). Cantor Kepecs created a series of seven Biblical oil paintings, a series of seven biblically inscribed mezuzah cases and a stone sculpture of the Ten Commandments, among many other works. Some of Cantor Kepecs' copyrighted sculptures utilize 3,300 year old Ancient Hebrew script, similar to Phoenecian Hebrew. He has also created numerous oil paintings with secular themes. His original paintings have sold for over $42,000 at auction, as reported in August 2004, in the Antiques And The Arts Online of the Newtown Bee. On 18 January, 2005, Cantor Kepecs was among a group of 141 Jewish clergy from around the world who met with Pope John Paul II in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, to thank the Pontiff for all he had done for the Jewish People and for the State of Israel in what would be the Pope's final official public meeting. Pope John Paul II, officially in Latin , born Karol Józef Wojtyla (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005), was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from 16 October 1978 until his death. The Clementine Room is used as a reception hall and hosts formal ceremonies by the Pope. The Apostolic Palace , also called the Papal Palace or the Palace of the Vatican, is the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Cantor Kepecs, then a member of the Presidents' Council of The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America and Canada, along with twelve other Cantors from that organization sang a Hebrew blessing to the Pontiff - "Shehecheyanu" (normally said on special occasions). Cantor Kepecs also presented Pope John Paul II with a personally designed mezuzah inscribed with the Priestly Blessing as reported in The Nassau Herald (January 27, 2005 page 3), and The Jewish Star (January 28, 2005 page 12). The Ice Mezuzah was numbered 12/72B, representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Gary Krupp, the seventh Jewish person to be knighted into the Order of St. Gregory by this Pope, offered a few words thanking the Pope for his efforts in the ongoing process of Relations between Catholicism and Judaism, and Christian-Jewish reconciliation, and for his support of the State of Israel. The Pope welcomed the Jewish audience, composed of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish leaders. The Pope noted that that year had marked the fortieth anniversary of the Vatican's landmark Nostra Aetate declaration, which rejected the charge that Jews collectively were responsible for the death of Jesus. "May this be an occasion for renewed commitment to increased understanding and co-operation in the service of building a world ever more firmly based on respect for the divine image in every human being", he said. "Upon all of you, I invoke the abundant blessings of the Almighty, and in particular, the gift of peace. Shalom Aleichem, shalom, shalom (in Hebrew: "Peace unto you. Peace. Peace")." The Vatican had stated that no other group in the world had ever said "thank you", giving blessings to the Pope. It was the first time in history that such a large contingent of Jewish clergymen officially met with a Pope. It also marked the first time in history that Jewish cantors sang before a Pope at the Apostolic Palace. It was a monumental event unprecedented in Judeo-Christian history. This entire historical event was carried in all of the world's newspapers, and televised. The giving of the Kepecs Mezuzah to the Pope, by Cantor Kepecs, interestingly started a fascinating trend among Catholic religious leaders. As a direct result, many Priests around the globe now own Mezuzot of their own. Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs as Inventor Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs has innovated and invented new devices over the years, including a hair re-growth device, a hearing restoration device, a special kind of walking cane, a uniquely designed walker, an uncomparable multiple light socket adapter, a design for a Judaic "Kiddush Cup Set" for sanctifying the Sabbath, as well as other devices and designs, receiving in 2007 a patent pending on his unique hair re-growth device and system.