The Bridge Shul in Bridgehampton has a new cantor, though it must sometimes share him with renowned opera and theater companies across the country.
Nathaniel Bear is a professional singer and voice teacher who, from birth, was immersed in the full range of synagogue music, from traditional chanting to congregational tunes to contemporary Jewish compositions. The son of two cantors, he has served as a cantorial soloist in synagogues across the United States.
As a teenager, Cantor Bear sang in the choir at the Hamptons Synagogue in Westhampton Beach. He spent last summer with the Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artist program, a highly competitive residency, and was a vocal arts fellow with the Tanglewood Music Center for two seasons. He has performed with the Seaglass Theater Company in New Bedford, Mass., the Boston University Opera Institute, and Opera Philadelphia.
At the Bridge Shul, he co-officiates with Rabbi Jan Uhrbach. “I am not alone in the congregation in periodically pinching myself, saying, ‘How did we get him?’ ” the rabbi said. “Even now, there is a sense of wonderment in the congregation, and people periodically say, ‘Where did you find him?’ with that sense of gratitude and awe.”
“Prayer is not only about connecting to God,” she said, “it’s about connecting to other people while we’re connecting to God. The connection that Nathaniel and I have when we lead prayer together, when we co-officiate, not only for me as a spiritual person, is tremendously inspiring and helpful in my prayer, but the community is elevated by the respect and affection we have for each other, and by the way they feel how connected we are as we are striving to pray. It has a spiritual component as well, the fact that we do this together.”
“It has been a really great experience so far,” Cantor Bear said. “I’ve never worked long term with one rabbi, so this is my first time really creating a relationship as we co-officiate. Very early on — by the end of our first weekend — we felt we were already listening to each other, starting to pick up on things about collaborating with each other, staying on the same page without saying words.”
The rabbi also has a musical background. “I grew up singing and playing violin,” she said. “Music is part of my soul as well, and that is one of the reasons it was so important to me as a rabbi to find someone like Nathaniel, who is such a superb vocalist and musician, and also, the music is connected to his soul. You can’t have one without the other.”
Cantor Bear leads services in person on Friday nights and Saturday mornings every other weekend through the summer, and on the High Holy Days held at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. On weekends when he is not in residence, he will lead via Zoom video conference.
“This community clearly has a lot of love for each other,” Cantor Bear observed, describing “a tight-knit community of generous folks. It’s very important to them that they stay together, even if they’re not in the same place for their worship. I feel I’ve been so warmly welcomed into this community.”
The Bridge Shul will host a Sunday brunch garden party with Cantor Bear and Rabbi Uhrbach at an East Hampton residence on Aug. 30.
