chai alumni

Celebrating a history of cultural excellence
Artistic Directors


Sarah Sommer - founder 1964
Nehemiah Cohen - 1970-71
Jill Lhotka - 1969-1989
Nenad Lhotka - 1969-1980
Marshall Miller - 1990-95
Hillel Sommer - 1990-94
Tamar Barr - 1996 - 2000
Casey Chisick - 1996-98; 2000
Stefan Gislason - 2001
Tracy Kasner - 2001-2002
Arthur Liffmann - 2002-03
Tracy Kasner - 2003 to 2015
David Vamos - 2015 to 2022
Jesse Popeski & Sarah Sommer -
      2022 - Present

Musical Directors


Sara Udow - 1968-1971
Miriam Breitman - 1972-75
Shirley Goltsman - 1976-79
Sam Simkin - 1980-82
Linda Bromberg - 1983-84
Eli Herscovitch - 1985
Hillel Sommer - 1986-90; 1993
Mark Arron - 1991
Mathew Faiman - 1991
Sheldon Laveman - 1991
Sharon Pearson - 1992
Casey Chisick - 1994-98
Stefan Gislason - 1997
Rita Reichbart - 2001
Zack Antel - 2001-2004
Christopher Wolf - 2004 to 2008
Ariel Posen - 2008 to 2014
David Vamos - 2014 to 2017
Jesse Popeski - 2017 to 2022
Cameron Denby - 2022 to Present

Vocal Directors


Miriam Bronstein - 1982-88
Stephen Reich - 1989
Jackie Tapper - 1990-93
Casey Chisick - 1992-95
Tracy Kasner - 1996-2001
Cal Reich - 1996-97
Shayla Solomon - 2002-2006
David Vamos - 2006-2009
Arthur Liffmann - 2009 to 2010
Lina Streltsov - 2010 to 2014
Sarah Sommer - 2014 to 2017
David Vamos – 2017 to 2022
Grace Hrabi – 2022 to Present

Dance Directors


Tamar Barr - 1990-2000
Robyn Braha - 2001
Brenda Gorlick (Res. Choreographer) 2002
Jessica Casiro - 2003-04
Sadira Garfinkel & Marla Simcoff - 2004-07
Rachel Cooper - 2007-08
Beth Usiskin (Rehearsal Dir.) 2008 - 2009
Sheena Stemler & Beth Usiskin - 2011-12
Elan Marchinko and Beth Usiskin
   - 2010-2014
Elan Marchinko - 2014 to 2015
Illana Minuk - 2015 to 2016 and Co-Dance
    Director 2016 - 2017
Hadera Short – Co- and Dance Director
   2016 - 2017
Rachel Cooper – 2017 - 2022
Rachael Buchwald – 2022 to Present
Elan Marchinko - Artistic Advisor of Dance     – 2023 to Present

Technical Directors


Sid Ritter - 1979-87
Leonard Ganetsky - 1988-94
Burton Tenenbein - 1994-2000
Josh Chisick - 2001
Michael Roy - 2002-2004

Director of Production


Benji Ross - 2001 to 2008
Ian Kirk - 2008 to 2016
John Loewen – 2016 to 2019

Master of Ceremonies


Lyle Smordin - 1972-1988
Debbie Maslowsky - 1989-94
Jerry Maslowsky z”l - 1989-90
Kinzey Posen - 1995-97; 1999
Kayla Gordon - 1998
Taras Luchak 1999
David Gale - 2001 to 2007

Past Board Presidents


1970-1983 - Hartley Gale z"l
1984-1985 - Sid Ritter
1986-1988 - Norman Goltsman z"l
1989-1990 - Gerald Arron
1991-1994 - Joel Antel
1995 - Max Reich z"l, Marsha Dashefsky & Leonard Ganetsky (Co-chairs)
1996-1998 - Leonard Ganetsky
1998-2004 - Lorne Weiss
2005-2008 - Lori Binder
2009-2014 - Hillel Sommer
2015-2018 - Sadira Garfinkel
2018 to present - Tracy Kasner

alumni photo album

Help us build a photo album chronicling Chai's history by e-mailing your photos to info@chai.ca. Photos you contribute may be used on this website or in other publications by Chai.

Click to Navigate Photo Album
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