Pierre Pinchik

Pinchik was born Pinchas Sigal in Novozhyvotiv, Vinnytsia Oblast, then part of the Russian Empire. Various dates are given for his birth year including 1897,[1] or 1900.[2] However, on most US government documents it is listed as March 16, 1893.[3][4] His parents were called Vladimiro and Basia Sigal.[5] As a youth he attended a Yeshiva of the Skverer Hasidim, where he was exposed to cantorial music.[2] In his teen years he moved to Kyiv to live with his grandfather, who was a bookseller, and to continue his Talmudic studies.[6] During that time a teacher in his Yeshiva observed his excellent singing voice and urged him to take piano lessons.[1] He then enrolled in the Kyiv Conservatory, where he studied for four years.[6]

Pinchik made his musical debut singing in the Great Choral Synagogue in Kyiv in 1913.[1] He soon began touring with Russian opera groups and theatre troupes.[1] During the Russian Revolution, Pinchik was drafted into the Red Army in an artists' brigade.[2] He was asked to compose revolutionary songs in Yiddish, which he did based on his knowledge of traditional folk and religious modes and melodies.[2] He subsequently toured the Soviet Union giving concerts of Yiddish folk songs, and it was during this time that he adopted the stage name Pierre Pinchik.[6]

From 1923 to 1925 or 1926 he became the cantor of the Leningrad Synagogue, a role previously held by famous cantors such as David Roitman and Zavel Kwartin.[6] During his tenure there he was asked to perform Nineteenth-century compositions from the German synagogue tradition, which he felt did not match his tastes or singing style.[2] Thus he reworked them into new styles that better matched his voice.[2]

Around 1925, Pinchik obtained permission to leave Russia on tour, with the help of poet Itzik Feffer.[2] He performed in various European cities before travelling to the United States in 1926 on a tour arranged by Joseph Hyman, who apparently heard about Pinchik from Fyodor Chaliapin.[2] His tour was very successful, and in 1928 RCA Victor offered him an exclusive recording contract.[2] He recorded a great number of 78 rpm albums for them during the late 1920s and early 1930s, many of which have been reissued in the years since. As well, on a musical level, the originality of his cantorial compositions made quite an impression on the American scene, inspiring a number of imitators.[7] His Rozo D'shabbos in particular has been said many times to have caused a minor revolution in cantorial style.[8][9] He also continued to take an interest in adapting Yiddish poems to song: I.L. Peretz, H. Leivick, A. Lutsky and others were among his favourite sources for material.[10]

In 1937 he became a naturalized US citizen.[11]

Pinchik did not take on a permanent posting at a synagogue in the United States, preferring to perform in various synagogues, halls and temporary spaces around the country as needed. For a number of years, he officiated at the K'nesset Israel Nusah S'fard in Chicago.[2]

Pinchik died in New York City on January 7, 1971. He had been one of the last living cantors from the so-called Cantorial Golden Age.[12] He was buried in the Shepetovka Cemetery in West Roxbury, near Boston.[13]