Dr. Mordechai Sobol, who popularized cantorial singing in Israel, passed away Sunday at the age of 67.
Hailed as one of the greatest experts in his field, Sobol suffered a stroke during the Rosh Hashanah holiday and died a few days later at a hospital in Atlanta, where he had been spending the Jewish New Year.
Sobol was born in Tel Aviv in 1951, to Meir and Zissel, both Holocaust survivors. At the age of eight, he began to study the art of cantorial singing with legendary cantor Shlomo Ravitz, who saw in him a successor.
Sobol served as musical director for the Yuval Israeli Ensemble for Cantorial Singing and Jewish Music and conducted hundreds of concerts in Israel and around the world. He composed and orchestrated hundreds of pieces, and was regularly invited to music festivals around the world.
He was awarded the President's Award for Educational Excellence as well as the Jerusalem Prize for his contribution to cantorial singing in Israel.
Over the years, Sobol trained the world's leading cantors, including Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Yaakov Lemmer and Chaim Adler, and collaborated with famous Israeli singers like David D'Or and Amir Benayoun.
Sobol's funeral has been set for Tuesday morning at the Yarkon Cemetery in Petach Tikva. He is survived by his wife, daughter and two sons.
