Biography
Moishe Oysher (Yiddish: משה אוישר, born 1907 in Lipkany, Bessarabia, Imperial Russia – died 27 November 1958, New Rochelle, New York, USA). He is considered one of the most entertaining chazanim (cantors) ever recorded. It is said that there were chazanim in his family going back six generations.
In 1921, he traveled to Canada with his family and joined a traveling Yiddish theatrical company. In 1932, he started his own company and traveled to South America. After returning from South America to the U.S., he took a job as a chazan for the High Holidays at the First Roumanian-American congregation, in Manhattan, New York, on the Lower East Side.
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Some say that Oysher's voice was like the "roaring of the lion." He liked the jazz style, popular at that time, and he used similar rhythmic melodies in his prayers, respecting always the traditional Bessarabian "Doinas" and "Nussach" moods of the prayers.
He starred in three Yiddish films and also made many recordings.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.