As Congregation Anshei Israel’s Cantorial Soloist, Nichole Chorny is inspired by the liturgy, the music, and the sense of community. “Singing together creates connection in every direction – to God, the past, the future, and to each other. That’s always drawn me in and made me want to share that connection with others.” She finds striking a balance between old and new to be interesting and challenging. “There’s such beauty and meaning in the melodies we heard growing up and we have a beautiful connection to those memories. But new melodies expand our hearts and enable us to experience the liturgy in new ways, find new meaning in the texts.”
Nichole has served as Cantorial Soloist since May 2014 and Education & Youth Director since July 2020. As a native Tucsonan, Nichole has deep roots in our Jewish community, which include working with families in our B’Yahad Religious School, B’nai Mitzvah program, and USY. She leads congregational services with Rabbi Metz, officiates life-cycle events, directs the adult and youth choirs, and teaches music in the preschool. Nichole develops and nurtures meaningful relationships with congregants of all ages, while focusing on cross-generational engagement. She encourages life-long Jewish learning by growing lay leaders, post-B’nai Mitzvah service leaders, and Torah/Haftarah readers. She is passionate about fostering a love of Judaism among congregants of all ages.
