Cantor Sawel Kwartin

The Judaica Sound Archives is pleased and proud to present Cantor Sawel (Zawel, Zavel) Kwartin as our featured performer.

Cantor Sawel Kwartin is considered to be one of the pivotal luminaries from the Golden Age of Chazzenruth (1920s and 1930s). It was during this time that Eastern European cantorial art flourished, reaching new heights of vocal excellence and drawing thousands to concerts.

Because his voice had such a fine quality he was often encouraged to pursue a career in opera, but he and his talents were most comfortable in the synagogue. He officiated in synagogues in Vienna, St. Petersburg and Budapest. When one of his concert tours brought him to New York City in 1919 he decided to make the USA his new home. He officiated at Temple Emanuel in Brooklyn’s Boro Park. Seven years later he immigrated to Israel (Palestine). He returned to the USA in 1937.

The JSA’s collection of Cantor Kwartin’s recordings is comprised of 144 audio tracks on 13 albums. Nine of these albums were specially created by the JSA from Kwartin’s early recordings on 78-rpm discs. They allow you to have the unusual and rare opportunity to follow Cantor Kwartn’s beautiful voice and heart-felt interpretations through almost a half-century of recordings.

 The Judaica Sound Archives is a major center for the collection, preservation and digitization of Judaica audio recordings. The JSA is located in the Wimberly Library on the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University.