Spertus presented a truly unique Hanukkah musical experience, one you definitely shouldn't have missed!

Guests heard the monstrously talented, Grammy-award-winning Howard Levy amaze on harmonica and piano as his friend and fellow Chicagoan, world-renowned tenor Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi, applied his majestic voice to favorite music from the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish traditions.

Howard Levy is an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, recording artist, bandleader, teacher, and producer, whose musical travels have taken him across the world. Equally at home in jazz, classical, rock, folk, Latin, and world music, he brings a fresh approach to whatever he plays. He has performed and recorded with a “who’s who” of artists, including Pete Seger, Steve Goodman, Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, Paquito D’Rivera, Rabih Abou Khalil, and his longtime collaborators Béla Fleck & The Flecktones.

Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi, cantor of Chicago’s historic Anshe Emet Synagogue, is an acclaimed Greek-born tenor whose repertoire spans nine languages. He has also performed with major symphony orchestras throughout the U.S., Europe, and Israel, and has performed and recorded with musicians ranging from legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck to the great Theodore Bikel. Hazzan Mizrahi has performed in front of two U.S. Presidents, George W. Bush, at the White House Hanukkah celebration, and Barack Obama, at the U.S. Capitol for Days of Remembrance.

Howard Levy's photo © Bob Kessler Photography