Steve Brodsky and Friends

 

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Steve Brodsky has been a singer, songwriter, Cantorial Soloist, and music educator in the Denver/Boulder Jewish community for over thirty years. Originally from Indianapolis, IN, Steve grew up deeply immersed in Reform Jewish life as a member of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation. He spent nearly every summer of his life at Jewish summer camp, where he was inspired to pick up the guitar, and was very active in local and regional youth groups where he honed his skills as a songleader.

Steve moved to Boulder, Colorado in the fall of 1979 to attend the University of Colorado. He quickly became connected to the Boulder and Denver Jewish communities, and soon began songleading, teaching religious school, and working with youth at both Congregation Har Hashem in Boulder and Temple Emanuel in Denver. Steve studied Environmental Design at CU, but found himself always drawn back to his roots in camping, youth, and Jewish music. After graduating from CU in 1983, Steve worked for a few years as an architect, then accepted a position at Temple Emanuel as Youth Director and Director of Shwayder Camp, Temple's residential summer camp located at 10,000 feet high in the Rockies west of Denver. He would spend five years in this position, from 1987 to 1991. During this time, Steve and Josh Zweiback formed the band Mah Tovu and began writing and performing original, contemporary Jewish music around the country. Mah Tovu released two CDs, a CD single, and two booklets accompanied by CDs that help families with young children create meaningful Jewish rituals for Shabbat, bedtime, and morning time. Mah Tovu's music has become widely used in synagogues, camps, and youth groups across North America, and Steve's compositions have been featured on several compilations of the best in contemporary Jewish music including Ruach 5761: New Jewish Tunes and Ruach 5763: New Jewish Tunes (both from Transcontinental Music Publications), and Celebrate Kids and The Best of the Celebrate Series (both from Craig n’ Co).

In 1992 Steve began working for ARE Publishing, a major publisher and distributor of Jewish educational materials based in Denver. Over eleven years, Steve learned the publishing business, developed his skills as a creator of Jewish curricular materials, and positioned ARE as a major distributor of contemporary Jewish music, with a focus on the educational value of music as an integral part of Jewish life and learning. Steve sold ARE to Behrman House in 2005.

Also in 2005, Steve formed a new band Sababa with friends Cantor Robbi Sherwin from Austin, TX, and Scott Leader from Phoenix, AZ. Sababa's folk-rock sound is reminiscent of The Eagles and Crosby, Stills and Nash, and they have become widely recognized for their outstanding songwriting, masterful musicianship, state-of-the-art production, and impeccable, intricate, muli-layered harmonies. Sababa has released two CDs of original music, and actively tours and performs across North America. Sababa's music has been recognized by Shalshelet: The Foundation for New Jewish Liturgical Music, and has been included in numerous compilation recordings, songbooks, and educational publications. Recently, two of Steve's original compositions, "Ma'ariv Aravim" and "Adonai S'fatai Tiftach," were chosen from among hundreds of submissions for inclusion in Shabbat Anthology 6, a collection of Shabbat worship melodies published by Transcontinental Music Publications.

In 2006, Steve began working for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), both as a Regional Educator - providing education consulting services to over 60 Reform congregations stretching from Colorado to Tennesssee, - and as a Marketing and Curriculum Development Specialist for URJ Press, the in-house publishing arm of the URJ. In 2007, the URJ acquired Sounds Write Productions, one of the largest wholesale and retail distributors and publishers of recorded Jewish music in North America. Steve became Administrative Director for Sounds Write, which, along with URJ Press and Transcontinental Music Publications, became one of three partner divisions under the new department known as URJ Books and Music.

Today, Steve works full time for Sounds Write Productions and URJ Books and Music. He also holds a part-time position as Artist-in-Residence at Temple Emanuel in Denver, where among other things he leads Tot Shabbat and Shabbat Unplugged services, facilitates a family Rosh Hashanah retreat at Shwayder Camp, and performs an annual Chanukah concert at Temple's "Hanukkah Hoopla." He also tours and performs regularly with Sababa, and serves as a Cantorial Soloist and service leader at several congregations in the Denver area, including Congregation Beth Evergreen, where he has served as soloist for the High Holy Days for ten years. Steve lives in Denver with his wife Jill and two boys Benjamin and Ari.

Feel free to contact Steve at steve@stevebrodskyandfriends.com.