- January 8, 2025
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Temple Beth Israel Music Director and Organist Ann Stephenson-Moe and Choir Soloist Kei Sulhi said they are more like sisters than just co-workers.
“Ann actually knew my daughter before she knew me,” said Sulhi. “The first time she called me about a singing job was to hire my daughter, who was a child, to be in one of her productions. So this made us more like family even before we started working at the temple together.”
When Sulhi’s daughter Allison Clayback lost her father as a child, Stephenson-Moe hired her to be in the girl's choir when she worked at the Church of the Redeemer in Sarasota.
Sulhi said this was the perfect coping mechanism for her daughter during this hard time. Clayback died when she was only 26, but Stephenson-Moe’s kindness solidified a lifelong friendship between the two women.
After their heartfelt meeting, the musicians started working at Temple Beth Israel around the same time, with Stephenson-Moe starting in 1996 and Sulhi following shortly in 1997.
Sulhi said the best part of them working at the temple is that neither of them is Jewish. She doesn’t practice religion and Stephenson-Moe attends the Church of the Redeemer.
Through the years and their many Shabbat services, their love for the religion has grown and made them “Jewish by proximity,” according to Stephenson-Moe.
The temple plans to honor them at its annual gala on Jan. 26 after almost 30 years of working there.
The Observer sat down with the honorees to find out what their years at Temple Beth Israel mean to them.
My sister, who is 12 years older than I am, started playing the piano when I was three. After she played, I would sit down and start to play what she played, which she hated. I couldn’t even reach the pedals.
I learned to play the organ by accident at a Presbyterian Church in Venice. Their organist had just quit, so they asked me to play because I could play piano. After I retired from that church, I started here after the former music director retired.
Since I knew her daughter, she is almost like a sister. We definitely bicker like sisters, but we always manage to figure it out and work great together.
It was a big surprise, but I’m very thankful after being here for almost 30 years. It’s always nice to be recognized for what you do.
The temple is very familial. When I lead the choir, our sense of community is very important. I am also very fond of our Executive Director, Isaac Azerad. He always looks after me, even when he doesn’t have to.
My sister and I started as a singing and dancing duo as small children when we were 5 and 6 years old. Then my mother put us in piano lessons. This led to my undergraduate studies in performing, singing and performance.
In my mid-teens, I was starting to develop a case of stage fright. Any kind of performance turned me into a noodling mess, so I ended up doing my graduate degree in counseling.
After 20 years of working in human services, I really missed music. In the mid-1990s, someone told me about this position opening up the temple of Longboat. I decided it couldn’t hurt to go audition. After the month-long audition, they offered me a contract. One of the other singers said, ‘You’re going to be singing in front of around 400 people for high holy days. Is that a problem?’ I was like, No problem. I definitely felt my stage fright coming back in that moment, but I got through it.
I think part of my stage fright was I just did not see myself as a performing singer, but by being out there and having that role, it did become my identity. It allowed me a chance to change, to return to singing. I couldn’t have done without the people being so welcoming.
We spend a lot of time together, and she has become just like a sister to me. Sometimes, we have a little spat because that’s what happens when you work closely with people, but we always get through it. It is also really special the way she was with my daughter.
It was a shock when I was called and told they were honoring me and Ann. I told them to just honor Ann because she is the titan of choral music. But they insisted.
I feel grateful that I've had this time with them and that they've given me this chance to build this new person that I've become. It's a very unique place.
