Hazzan Sarah Alexander is thrilled to share her love of davening and dedication to meaningful 
Jewish education with the community of Kehillat Shalom.
 

She never dreamed that this would be her life’s path when she began a musical life as an
instrumentalist almost 30 years ago. In her early twenties, Hazzan Alexander was called by G-
d to pursue the sacred calling of the cantorate, which her mentor Hazzan Rabbi Shlomo Shuster 
has aptly characterized as “leading our people up the mountain of prayer.”

A passionate Conservative Jew, Hazzan Alexander is an invested member of the Cantors 
Assembly, the largest organization of professional Hazzanim in the world. A past president of 
the Chicago Milwaukee Association for Synagogue Music, she currently serves as Secretary-
Treasurer for the Midwest Regional Chapter of the Cantors Assembly. 

Another of Hazzan Alexander’s missions is making prayer accessible and understandable to 
everyone. For this purpose, she has created transliterated learning siddurim for Conservative 
shuls, which she gives away for free. She has also created custom prayer books which are 
currently in use by Anshe Tikvah and CJE SeniorLife.

Congregations Hazzan Alexander has served include Congregation Shirat Shalom, Anshe 
Tikvah, Ezra Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation, and Mikdash El Hagro 
Hebrew Congregation. She is also involved in the greater Jewish community, from lecturing 
for Hadassah groups to davening with nursing home residents to leading community sedarim 
to serving as Cubmaster for Chicagoland’s only Jewish Cub Scout Pack. In 2003, Hazzan 
Alexander was named a “Jewish Chicagoan of the Year” by the Chicago Jewish News.

In addition to her cantorial pursuits, Hazzan Alexander is a recitalist, orchestral performer, 
and chamber musician. She has soloed with various orchestras, including the Chicago String Ensemble, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra, the DePaul University Chamber Orchestra, and the Lake Shore Symphony. She was the featured soloist when the Wheaton Symphony 
performed Strauss’ Don Quixote. Hazzan Alexander has been presented in recital by WFMT’s 
“Live from Studio One”, the MacDowell Arts Society, the Spanish Consulate, the Beck Institute 
for the Arts, the Union League Club, the North Shore MacDowell Society, the Chicago Musical 
Arts Club, and other organizations too numerous to mention.

World music is one of Hazzan Alexander’s passions, and in that vein she has performed with 
T.I.M.E., Lingua Musica, and StringFusion. She has performed over 60 world premieres to 
date, including several works written specifically for her. In addition to the violoncello, she also 
performs on the violoncello piccolo and the oud.

Hazzan Alexander lives in Skokie with her husband Daniel and their children Aaron and Esther.

contact Hazzan Sarah at hazzanalexander@yahoo.com