Joseph Malovany

Joseph Malovany is an Israeli-born American tenor soloist. A world-famous cantor, serving as Hazzan of New York's Fifth Avenue Synagogue since 1973, and a Distinguished Professor of Liturgical Music at the Belz School of Jewish Music, Yeshiva University. Malovany possesses a brilliant spinto tenor voice, described by the London Guardian as “most powerful, beautiful and expressive spinto technique…sturdy and heroic.”

Malovany began his career as a cantor at Tel Aviv’s “Bilu” synagogue before stints at congregations in Johannesburg and London. While serving at Fifth Avenue Synagogue since 1973 and Yeshiva University since 1985, Malovany has toured extensively, teaching and giving concerts. Since helping found the institution in 1989, Malovany has been Dean of the Joint Distribution Committee’s Moscow Academy of Jewish Music.

Malovany's concerts have been attended by Presidents and Prime Ministers. A Lithuanian coin was issued in his honor and in 2002, Malovany was appointed Honorary Chief Cantor of Vilnius. In 1997, the Joseph Malovany Chair for Advanced Studies in Jewish Liturgical Music was established by Yeshiva University. In January 2004, he became a commander of the Legion of Honor, Poland’s equivalent of knighthood, receiving this award from the then Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski for his musical contribution to the international and Polish communities. He is also Rector of the Institute of Traditional Religious Jewish Liturgical Music in Leipzig, Germany.