Get to Know Cantor Matt Austerklein

Cantor Matt Austerklein is honored to join Temple Beth El after serving with distinction at pulpits in Bethesda, Maryland, Akron, Ohio, and Sarasota, Florida. Cantor Matt is a well-known educator and musicologist, and is currently finishing his PhD dissertation in Jewish Studies at Halle-Wittenberg University. He is the editor of three books, and the author of dozens of articles on Jewish Music (which you can read at mattausterklein.substack.com). In 2022, he received the Cantors Assembly’s Samuel Rosenbaum Award for Scholarship and Creativity, one of the organization’s highest honors. Cantor Austerklein is also passionate about nigunim, and leads musical events and services that center the voice of the congregation.

Cantor Austerklein lives in Akron with his wife, Rabbi Elyssa Austerklein, and their two children, Georgie & Beatrice.

What got you started in the cantorate?

I grew up as a shul kid in Alexandria, Virginia. After learning the entire service for my bar mitzvah, I continued to feel at home going to synagogue each week, and was active as a teen bar mitzvah tutor, Jewish a cappella singer, and cellist in a high school Jewish string quartet. Supported by my cantor, Elisheva Dienstfrey, led my first high holidays (with organ!) in Newport News, Virginia when I was 21 years old. I ultimately decided that I wanted a life of music which would also give my Jewish faith and religious practice a chance to grow. Being a cantor continues to give me both of those blessings, and more.

What is your favorite piece to sing?

As human beings we are always changing; in that spirit, I really can’t identify a “favorite” piece of music – only music that I am connecting to and working with at this moment. I am currently loving both Sefirat HaOmer by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Yosef Goldman, and I’m working on a classical aria about Solomon Schechter from the new opera, Geniza (2023) by Rabbi Arnold Saltzman (I will be premiering it in Cambridge on June 20th as part of a Jewish Music Trip to the UK).

What are you most excited for here at Temple Beth El?

Though I will be in-person in a part time capacity, I am most excited to meet the families of Temple Beth El. Over the last two years, I officiated some holidays and b’nai mitzvah and began to get to know our members; in my expanded role, I’m excited that I’ll be able to have a more regular contact with the community, and find new ways to support them in their musical, intellectual, and spiritual needs.

When will you be here?

I will be honored to join TBE for Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Purim, and Shavuot, as well as for monthly Shabbatot over the course of 5785 (2024-5). My esteemed colleague, Cantor Jonathan Kohan, will be the synagogue’s hazzan for Selichot, Sukkot, and Pesach, as well as a number of other Shabbatot during the year. We are happy to be part of a larger team with Rabbi Bitran, Debbie Zeger, and the TBE staff to support learning, music, and spiritual life at the synagogue.