Cantor Vicky Glikin

 

 

Cantor Vicky Glikin was ordained from Hebrew Union College – Institute of Jewish Religion (HUC-JIR) in May, 2012. While pursuing her cantorial training, Cantor Glikin was honored to be chosen for the highly-selective Wexner Graduate Fellowship. She was also the recipient of numerous academic awards, including prizes for mastery of traditional chazzanut, achievement in performance of Jewish Art Song, excellence in Rabbinic studies, midrash, and liturgy, as well as prizes for creativity in worship and general excellence. 

 

Cantor Glikin was born in Ukraine and lived in Kiev until moving to Skokie at age 13. After graduating Cum Laude from Northwestern University in Evanston, Cantor Glikin worked for 3 years as an equity analyst with write-ups on several major financial websites. Having realized that her way to truly make a difference in the world was through the service of the Jewish people, Cantor Glikin became the cantorial soloist at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe. Serving in this role from 2004 until entering the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR in 2007, Cantor Glikin led services and worked on several educational initiatives focusing on teaching prayer. She also created and ran a Youth Theater Troupe called “Ruach.” 

 

While attending HUC-JIR, Cantor Glikin served as the student cantor at Temple Sholom in Fanwood, NJ for four years. She further supplemented her education by completing a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ and serving as the Worship Services Director at Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA. Cantor Glikin is a Storatelling Maven and a contributing writer to URJ’s 10 Minutes of Torah.

 

Her masters thesis, entitled “Journey to God,” explored the effect of personal spiritual development on the cantor. Cantor Glikin’s thesis culminated in her senior recital, which was designed to elevate the audience’s spiritual connection through music, give listeners an understanding of Judaism’s relevance to today’s world and inspire people on their own journey to the Divine, goals that Cantor Glikin sees as central to her role as a Cantor.