Rachel Adelstein

Rachel Adelstein is the Managing Editor of Musica Judaica Online Reviews. She received her PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Chicago in 2013. Between 2014 and 2017, she was the Donnelley Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge.

Articles by this author

Julie Johanna Engel

Julie Johanna Isner Engel dreamed of becoming a professional opera singer in Germany in the 1930s, but the rise of the Nazis interrupted that dream. Escaping to the United States, she trained her voice in synagogue choirs and local opera performances. In the 1970s, she took a cantorial position at a synagogue in Queens, one of a pioneering generation of women cantors.

Jewish Women in Contemporary Popular Music: 1950 to Present

Since 1950, Jewish women musicians have moved with the times, performing with bands, as solo acts, and as songwriters. They have included mainstream pop performers and rock, punk, and Riot Grrrl musicians. Some Israeli artists have reached international audiences, often via the Europvision Song Contest.

Carole King

Carole King, a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn, gave Aretha Franklin reason to croon “A Natural Woman,” inspired Little Eva to tell a generation about the latest dance craze in “The Loco-Motion,” and let James Taylor warm our hearts with “You’ve Got a Friend.”

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Rachel Adelstein." (Viewed on November 7, 2024) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/adelstein-rachel>.