Professor of Liturgical Studies
Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Hazzan Don Gurney is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was introduced to the art of Hazzanut by Cantor Saul Meisels. Don is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music in New York City. Upon receiving his degree, he served the Emmanuel Synagogue of West Hartford, Connecticut, from 1986 to 1994. He joined the faculty of Hebrew Union College as an instructor of Hazzanut and 19th Century Synagogue Music and served as Director of the School of Sacred Music Chorus from 1985 until 1999. In 1995, he made his Lincoln Center conducting debut at the International Choral Festival. Cantor Gurney served Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York from 1994 until 1999, before coming to Wilshire Boulevard Temple. His exquisite tenor voice can be heard on the CDs, “One Voice” and “Meditations of the Heart”. Don is married to Los Angeles native Nancy Binder and they are the proud parents of daughter Gillian.
