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Peter grew up in Plainview, Long Island where he took part in several school musicals and was inspired and encouraged by his High School choir director, Ronald Cohen. His live for music grew deeper through exposure to opera by his first voice teacher, Teresa Arrigo. By the time he reached the age of 17, he had been a finalist in the Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition at the Lincoln Center in New York City and was singing lead tenor in a barbershop quartet. He was granted a Merit Scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester where he studied voice with Jan de Gaetani and graduated with Distinction.

At 19 he sang his first High Holy Day services for a congregation of 3,000. This experience and three wonderful years of service to Congregational Ohabai Shalom in Nashville, Tennessee prompted him to intensify his commitment to Judaism and return to the Hebrew Union College in New York City for a 4-year course of study. He received the Morris Smith Prize for excellence in studies and was Invested as Cantor in 1988. Upon graduation, Cantor Halpern accepted a position with the Liberal Jewish Community of Amsterdam, Holland. He sang as regular Cantor in the Hague and Amsterdam and periodically davened services and sang concerts in various Synagogues in England, Belgium and Germany. In addition to his work as Cantor, he sang several opera roles and appeared in many classical concerts. His early experiences with close harmony held him in good stead, as he also recorded extensively with Internationally acclaimed Renaissance ensemble Cappella Pratensis, concertizing with them in Poland, Norway, France and Japan from 1991 to 1998.

His homeland eventually beckoned him to return, and from 1998 to 2006 he was Cantor at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks, California.

Cantor Halpern composed “Seht die Lichter,” a group of fifteen prayer settings for Shabbat during his years in Europe, which was published in June 2000 by Transcontinental Music Publishers in New York. It was reprinted in vocal leadsheet-chordal form in 2005.

Cantor Halpern became the proud father of Nathan in 2004 and he returned to the east coast to be closer to his family. In July of 2006, he assumed the position of Cantor of Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

View all albums by Peter Halpern

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