About

Cantor Gil Ezring is serving as the Cantor at Bet Torah in Mt. Kisco, NY. With an extensive background and passion for music in its varying styles, Cantor Ezring constantly strives to engage people through song and prayer.

Cantor Ezring has participated in programming with Kol Hazzanim (the Cantors group of Westchester County, NY) as well as singing as part of the Westchester Jewish Music Festival. He is always quick to find ways to engage all ages in music, and even may be found wearing a themed costume while singing with the youngest members of the community during Nursery School music class.

From 2018-2020 Cantor Ezring was the Hazzan at Congregation Beth Judea in Long Grove, IL. Cantor Ezring collaborated with Jewish clergy from around the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago for joint services, including the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Shabbat with Temple Chai in Long Grove and Congregation Beth Am in Buffalo Grove. Cantor Ezring was also an active member of the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council. For their Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, he contributed his voice to the interfaith praise band and Jewish music to the program.

Cantor Ezring enjoys his time working with kids of all ages. He transforms into “The Cantorsaurus” and “Shab-Batman” for Young Family Shabbat Services during which he teaches traditional and contemporary Jewish music and prayer.

A high note for Cantor Ezring is working with young Jewish musicians. He mentored the teen music teachers and members of the synagogue band at Congregation Beth Judea. To help them improve their craft, he coached them on musicality, music theory, and introduced them to the international Jewish Songleading community by taking them to the Songleader Boot Camp (SLBC) National Conference in St. Louis.

Cantor Ezring has presented at various Jewish Leadership and Music Conventions. He was a presenter on Weekday Shacharit and Rosh Chodesh services at the first “Kol T’filah” in January 2018, a convention on Jewish Music in Los Angeles. He spoke as a panelist on musical innovation in mainstream synagogues at the “Hallel V’Zimra: Jewish Liturgical Music, Present and Future” in March 2019 in Chicago. Cantor Ezring is a regular presenter for the Cantors Assembly and Davening Songlab’s monthly SongSwap. Cantor Ezring has also taught a unit of the “Stories of Music” curriculum as part of the weekly webinar offered by the Cantors Assembly and the Lowell Milken Fund for American Jewish Music in May 2020.

Cantor Ezring exercises his singing and songwriting talents working closely with his sister, Aviva Ezring, as the Jewish musical duo, AGEz. Together, they write and perform their original Jewish rock/country/folk music. Their goal is to invite people of all ages to sing along and explore their own spirituality through catchy melodies and a blend of Hebrew and English lyrics.
In addition to working as a Hazzan, Cantor Ezring taught in congregation religious schools across the eastern seaboard. He also served as Mashgiach and B’nei Mitzvah tutor at Camp Ramah Darom and as songleader and music director at Camp Zeke.
Before entering the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), Cantor Ezring was a founding member of Rock HaRuach, a Jewish rock band based out of Temple Israel in Charlotte, NC. In collaboration with the Rabbi, he created the Rock HaShanah and Rock HaShabbat services, led by Rock HaRuach, incorporating Jewish rock music into Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat Evening liturgy.
Outside of shul, Cantor Ezring loves board games, video games, and is an avid movie goer. You might find him enjoying a Broadway musical at the theater or a good shawarma at a local kosher restaurant. In addition to Jewish music, Cantor Ezring enjoys singing and listening to an eclectic library of music ranging from “oldies” and opera to pop and rock. He also enjoys family dance parties with his wife, Cantor Eryka Velazquez, and their daughter.