Cantor Ben Rosner
As the Cantor at Mosaic Law Congregation in Sacramento, California, Cantor Ben Rosner brings a dynamic approach to Jewish music and synagogue life.
About Cantor Rosner
Cantor Rosner utilizes multiple styles of voice and instruments—including classical guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, keyboard and recorder—to bring joyful and soulful melodies to synagogue prayer. He greatly values intercultural collaborations and has produced and participated in prayer services and concerts featuring music from Yemenite, Persian, Sephardic, Mizrachi, Yiddish, Ladino and Hindustani traditions.
Cantor Rosner is committed to fostering a community that serves the needs of all of its members. At Mosaic Law Congregation, he reintroduced Tot Shabbat for the youngest children and facilitated the development of MLC2030, a synagogue group that engages and empowers Jews in their 20s and 30s, an age group that is typically unaffiliated. He was also instrumental in starting an MLC Pride committee, now called Keshet. In Spring 2022, Cantor Rosner created and facilitated a three-part program called, “Everything You Would Like to Know About Death but Were Afraid to Ask," which covered everything from Jewish funerals, last rights, ritual practices, mourning, palliative and hospice care, to wills and estates, which featured over 15 guest speakers.
An established Jewish composer and expert on sacred music, Cantor Rosner holds degrees from the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, where his thesis was “The Birth and Rebirth of Guitar in the Synagogue and A Theory and Practical Application of Jewish Liturgical Music.”
He has provided expert contributions to articles appearing in Acoustic Guitar Magazine and the Journal of Synagogue Music, the latter of which includes his recording and arrangement of the traditional prayer “Shiviti” for classical guitar and voice. His other published articles, presentations and compositions include “Selective Use of the Guitar as Accompanying Instrument” (Journal of Synagogue Music), “The Unlimited Potential of Guitar in Synagogue Music” (University of Chicago, Kaplan Institute symposium), “Hashkiveinu” (premiered at a community-wide Yom Hashoah commemoration), “Oseh Shalom” and "A Shavuot Piyyut") both premiering at the Shalshelet Jewish Composers Festival in Philadelphia.
Cantor Rosner grew up attending service at KAM Isaiah Israel in Hyde Park, Chicago, where he was exposed to the music of Max Janowski, the synagogue’s famed music director. He began playing classical guitar at age 13, earning a scholarship to the University of Miami’s conservatory program a few years later. While at UM, he started leading musical Shabbat services at Hillel, an experience that inspired him to dedicate his life to Jewish learning and teaching.