LAWRENCE AVERY

When I entered the School of Sacred Music in 1981 I had a tremendous amount of catching up to do. I had to work triple time to get to square 1. Right from the start, "Cantor Avery" recognized my intense desire to learn and he responded every step of my journey with encouragement and phenomenal teaching. He gave us all his calligraphed compositions and collected compositions of great cantorial composers as loving gifts. I keep the packets he painstakingly put together for us as treasures. But...

My family have been members of Beth El for over 40 years. Cantor Avery took over my Bar-Mitzvah preparation in 1978 when Rev. Saul Friedler, of blessed memory, fell ill. It was a wonderful experience learning from such a marvelous teacher and Cantor. I will always have his fantastic voice and renderings of the prayers for Shabbat and Yomim Tovim etched in my memory. My condolences to his daughters, whom he spoke of often, and to all who were fortunate enough to know him. May the Almighty...

From 1974 to 1980 Cantor Avery was my teacher and my mentor. But he was so more than that: spiritual advisor, vocal coach, role model, confidant, friend. His voice, and his unique piano style, resonates in my ears whenever I think of him. He could communicate like no other cantor I have known. When I saw him several years after graduation, I told Larry that, during the first year in my first job, not a working day went by when I didn't draw upon the wellspring of knowledge he gave me. He and...