Hazzan Kim Komrad

Hazzan Kim Komrad serves Kehilat Shalom Congregation in Gaithersburg, MD.   She is the first female Hazzan  to hold a pulpit in a Conservative synagogue in the history of the Baltimore-Washington area. Hazzan Komrad is among the first generation of women to be invested into the clergy by Judaism's Conservative Movement, in 1994.   She earned her Master of Sacred Music degree and  Diploma of Hazzan  from the five-year program at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cantors Institute, in New York and Israel.

She was  featured in the concerts "The Twelve Leading Cantors of Our Time" and "World Renowned Cantors" for the Cantors Assembly, as well as "The Four Most Exciting Women Cantors of our Decade."  She has performed at the the Cantors Assembly’s annual conventions every year since she was inducted, and was named a "Rising star of the Cantorate.”  Hazzan Komrad served as President of the Cantors Assembly’s Seaboard Region for twenty years, and is on the national organization’s Editorial Board of the Journal of Synagogue Music, Ethics Committee, and  CD Committee.  She also established the Chesed Committee to support colleagues and their families suffering illness or loss. In 2016  she was honored with the Cantors Assembly’s Yehudah Mandel Humanitarian Award “in recognition of her many deeds of lovingkindness locally and nationally;  her cantorial skill is exceeded only by her kindness and compassion.”

The recipient of many awards for performance and Hazzanut, her rich soprano voice has delighted both congregational and secular audiences alike. The Chicago Tribune called her voice "beautiful and passionate."  The Toledo Blade described her sound as "mystical." The Baltimore Sun, reviewing her CD-ROM about Chanukah, wrote "Thanks to her clear, warm soprano, Chanukah never sounded so good."

Hazzan Komrad has lectured widely to diverse groups concerning women in the cantorate, helping to promote an understanding of  ordained/invested women clergy in a traditional movement of Judaism.   She is widely appreciated for her inspiring healing services --she is a certified End-of-Life specialist and has worked with hospice patients as a clergy volunteer.

Hazzan Komrad's vocal training was in classical voice and opera at the University of Miami, FL, and she has studied for many years with  Dr. William Riley in New York.  Cantor Komrad has appeared widely in the United States on both the pulpit and stage and as a soloist with a variety of ensembles, including the Handel Choir of Baltimore. She has performed throughout Israel under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Tourism, and has also performed cantorial music on television in the Baltimore area.  Her CD, “Voice of the Lioness,”  was released in 1999, featuring Hazzanut, Jewish Art Songs, and folk music. Her second album, "Love is All Around" with Hazzan Emanuel Perlman, features love songs from the 50’s-90’s.  She is also featured on the Cantors Assembly/United Synagogue “The Jewish Wedding” CD.

Hazzan Komrad earned her B.A. degree in English from the University of Miami, FL, where she studied creative writing under the tutelage of Nobel Laureate, Isaac Bashevis Singer.  She lives in Baltimore.