About

Justin Callis is a fifth year student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music.

He received the Reuben Peretz Abelson Prize for dedication to Yiddish Song, the Temple Israel of Boston Cantorial Prize, and the Lee Gura Memorial Prize for Synagogue Choral Music.

Justin is the student cantor for Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York, NY. Previously, he served as the student cantor for East End Temple in New York, NY and Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC.

A native of West Hartford, CT, he was an active participant in his home congregation of Congregation Beth Israel.

Justin earned a Bachelor of Science in Theatre and English and a Certificate in Music Theatre from Northwestern University in 2011, and was deeply involved in the religious music scene in Chicago. He also worked as a teaching artist, music director, and composer in Chicago, working extensively with youth of all ages and backgrounds.

Throughout his career, Justin has studied under Cantor Scott Simon, Cantor David Berger, Cantor Pamela Siskin, Natasha Ulyanovsky, and Laura Deutsch.