Temple Beth Israel hosts memorial concert

TBI Rocks, and so do its longtime musicians Ann Stephenson-Moe and Kei Sulhi. At Temple Beth Israel's fourth memorial concert for Florence Katz, guests and the choir took a moment to mark the significance of the pair's 26 years at TBI. 

"This concert is in memory of Florence Katz, who founded the choir some 30 years ago, and tonight we're honoring Ann Stephenson-Moe and Kei Sulhi for their service," executive director Isaac Azerad said. "We wanted to do their 25-year anniversary last year but because of the pandemic we couldn't do it." 

Before the concert, choir member Carole Shaw presented Sulhi and Stephenson-Moe with presents for their silver anniversary to the delight of the more than 100 attendees. Both musicians arrived in 1996, Sulhi as a soloist and Stephenson-Moe as a pianist. 

Bob Vigder, son-in-law of the late Katz, gave some background of the choir's founder. She was a lifelong musician and teacher and founded choirs at multiple schools at which she taught. As a child, she played violin and performed around Ohio with her sisters. She developed the Temple Beth Israel choir after moving down full-time and ran it until Stephenson-Moe took over in 2004. 

"They're (the choir) a central attraction of our rituals and services," Vigder said. "They make everything harmoniously beautiful." 

Shortly after, the concert got going. The theme of the night was TBI Rocks and featured music either performed or written by contemporary Jewish musicians.

"Florence was a human dynamo," Stephenson-Moe said. "We were going to do this program in 2020 but we soldiered on. We went on a new adventure for us and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed making it for you … for a few minutes I hope we can escape into another world tonight."