Shabbat Evening Service: Stephen Wise Temple and Schools celebrate Maestro David Kates
Friday, April 29, at 6:15 p.m. | Main Sanctuary | RSVP
When Maestro David Kates retires as Music Director of Stephen Wise Temple and Schools at the end of the academic year, giving way to successor Tali Tadmor, he will leave behind a soulful, innovative, and enduring musical legacy.
His music has ushered in High Holy Day prayers, accompanied the singing of our Wise School students, and shaped how our community worships and rejoices.
As much Kates has shaped Wise over the last three decades, Wise has shaped him. It was at Wise that Kates found a professional second act full of purpose. It was at Wise that he found himself.
“I’ve absolutely become my best self at Wise, on so many levels,” said Kates, who will be honored in a special April 29 Shabbat Evening service in the Main Sanctuary. “I’ve had so much room to grow, so much room to express myself.”
Drawers upon drawers in the cantorial offices are now filled with Kates’ compositions. He’s served as everything from the occasional accompanist, to house musician, to composer-in-residence, to Music Director—a post created especially for him in 2012. The music lab at Wise School was literally built to his specifications. Combing through hundreds of photographs and videos of Wise services and events over the last decade is like playing “Where’s Waldo?”—Kates is so often there, if you look hard enough.
“Maestro Kates is a singular talent,” said Senior Cantor Emma Lutz. “He has been my true collaborator, friend, and guide these past six years that I have been at Wise. He has inspired countless people of all ages with his incredible musicality and his love of Judaism.”
What You’re Listening To: David Kates’s composition of “Ahavat Olam,” sung by Stephen Wise Temple Senior Cantor Emma Lutz.
It was that love of Judaism that brought Kates to Wise. For a decade after he graduated from UCLA with a degree in film scoring, he composed and arranged music for Disney films and cartoons, for television shows, commercials, and short films. He was a seasoned pro with regular work in entertainment. He was also unfulfilled.
“Most of the work that I was doing professionally, I found to be disposable and unimportant,” Kates said. “I was reaching a point where I really wanted my work to be more meaningful and useful. I wanted to see music be a vehicle for healing, instead of just being a throw-away object.”
In the fall of 1992, Kates came to Wise as a member of the at-large community, frequently attending the weekly Saturday minyan, and the post-minyan lunches which featured a live band. One day, he decided to sit in and play the piano. He returned, week after week, adding his music to the celebrations, and soon, he became Wise’s unofficial go-to musical artist-in-residence.
After beloved accompanist Joe Abel passed away in 1994, Kates stepped in to fill the void. Just a few years later, he began to conduct the High Holy Day choir. As he became more engaged in temple activities, his responsibilities expanded, even as his professional entertainment work continued.
David Kates supervises Wise School’s stage production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” on March 17 2018.
“Every time I play music during a service, or I’m conducting, it’s like prayer,” Kates said. “It functions in a very powerful way that helps others to express themselves and to feel emotion.”
That sentiment filtered into every piece Kates wrote and performed for Wise, and in 2012, he decided that he wanted to make Jewish music his full-time job. To accommodate him, Wise created a brand-new position: Music Director of Stephen Wise Temple. Soon after, a young, guitar-playing rabbi by the name of Yoshi Zweiback, was named the Head of School for Wise School.
“He saw me leading a service and he decided that he wanted me to come in and hire me also as the Head of Music Education for the schools,” Kates said. “All of a sudden, it became much more of an all-encompassing involvement in the synagogue and the school.”
“It’s been a joy and privilege to work with him, leading services, composing songs for Wise School, and being inspired by his creativity,” said Rabbi Yoshi, who became Senior Rabbi in 2015, and has collaborated with Kates on multiple musical projects.
Under Rabbi Yoshi and current Head of School Tami Weiser, Kates expanded the Wise School music program and created his own progressive music curriculum. When it came time to design the school’s new music innovation lab, he assisted Lehrer Architects in its design, creating a space he wished he would have had access to when he was studying music.
“I had computers and keyboards for all the kids, and we had a drum circle, and we created all kinds of crazy music projects and a lot of expanded expression,” Kates said. “It was really phenomenal, and it has grown since then.”
Kates’ creativity has found its way into much of the school’s programming—elaborate grade level presentations, assembly videos, holiday worship services, weekly t’filah—and he’s served as the Music Director of the annual spring musicals. He created the Wise Music Academy, which provides after-school music programs, private lessons, and seasonal concerts for the Wise community.
David Kates directs Wise School students in music under the Sukkah in 2018.
“Maestro is a key part of our Wise School community,” Weiser said. “His vision elevated our music instructional program with new curriculum, grade-level programming, and our chagim and Shabbat services. We are grateful for his creativity, passion, and leadership.”
Kates has worked with the Wise clergy team to elevate spirituality through music, tapping into the rich traditions of Jewish music while also pushing boundaries to create new and inspiring musical moments in the Wise community’s story, including Cantor Emma’s installation this past March.
“His artistry is unparalleled,” Cantor Emma said. “His love of teaching Judaism through music has been an inspiration for us all. We will continue to enjoy his many marvelous compositions and we know that he will be a forever friend to our Wise community.”
“Above all else, he is a true mensch who cares deeply about Judaism, Jewish community, and Jewish culture,” Rabbi Yoshi said. “I wish him and his wife Linda and their wonderful daughters all the best as they transition to this next chapter in their lives.”
Said Cantor Emma: “The way he communicates his interpretation of our musical heritage is a beautiful means of connection and a true gift to our community. We wish him and Linda only blessing as they embark on this new chapter of retirement and travel, and we trust that they will continue to call Wise their spiritual home for many years to come.”
That chapter will indeed involve a lot of travel—Linda is set to retire as Senior Cantor of Leo Baeck Temple this spring—but before Kates could close the piano lid for the final time, he wanted to ensure that Wise would be in good musical hands. Tadmor—who served 20 years as the Music Director at Temple Judea in Tarzana—was a unanimous selection by Kates, Cantor Emma, and Weiser to succeed him.
“I know what a beautiful soul and a beautiful musician Tali is,” Kates said. “When she came in to see me and take a look at my program, and see what I had created, the two of us really felt like true kindred spirits. We both wanted the same thing out of music education. We both want the same thing out of music as a vehicle for spiritual expression and healing. We admire each other, and we really care about each other. It is a blessing that we’ve been able to find someone like Tali to succeed me.”
“I am grateful to be joining Stephen Wise Temple and Schools, renowned for their robust musical traditions,” said Tadmor, who has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. “I am honored to be continuing in David Kates’s musical legacy.”
Tadmor was introduced to the Wise community during a Shabbat service two weeks ago, and will contribute to the special farewell Shabbat Evening service in Kates’s honor on April 29. That service will feature singers from the Wise High Holy Day master chorale choir, Wise School’s Junior Cantors joining other students from the day school, all singing to Kates’s compositions.
Linda—who served as a cantor at Stephen Wise Temple for 25 years—will return to the bimah where she got her start, and sing to her husband’s music.
“It’s been the defining years of my life, to be here at Wise,” Kates said. “I’ve become my best self here at Wise.”
What You’re Listening To: As Director of Music, Maestro Kates has composed a theme song each year for Wise School with Rabbi Yoshi. Below is one of his recent examples, “Chazak Ve’ematz,” sung by Stephen Wise Temple Senior Cantor Emma Lutz.
