Sephardi shuls’ musical first

The Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation has appointed Eliot Alderman as its first director of music.

Mr Alderman, 31, will act as choirmaster at the Lauderdale Road Synagogue and will also have the responsibility for the conservation and development of Sephardi liturgical music at Bevis Marks and Wembley synagogues.

Mr Alderman — a tenor — graduated from the Guildhall School of Music in 2004 and is currently on a scholarship undertaking postgraduate work at the Royal Academy of Music. He studied the cantorial arts at the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute, training with Chazan Naftali Herstik of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue.

Mr Alderman, whose father, Geoffrey, is a JC columnist, said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed director of music by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation. This congregation has a rich history of liturgical and choral composition, which I intend to preserve and expand.”