26 | NOVEMBER 17 • 2022

J

enna Pearsall’s installation as cantor
at New York’s prestigious Central
Synagogue on Nov. 18 will mark the
ending of her journey to the cantorate and
the beginning of a new career.
Pearsall, 27, grew up in Wixom. Her
mother, Leah McMillan, says she was
musical even as a baby, humming and
dancing along when she’
d hear a tune. But
Pearsall says her real interest in musical
performance began when she was in fourth
grade at Loon Lake Elementary School. She
performed “Tomorrow” from Annie at the
school talent show to a standing ovation.
“That’s when it kind of clicked for me,
” she
said.
Soon after, Cantor Neil
Michaels at Temple Israel,
where her family have been
longtime members, cast her in
a musical where she did a solo,
and she’s never looked back.
She learned to read music

and sight-sing over three summers of choir
at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in western
Michigan, a musical theater camp at the
Jewish Community Center and a musical
theater program at Interlochen Arts Camp
in northern Michigan. She honed her
skills through lessons with Michaels’ wife,
Stephanie, choir and musical theater pro-
ductions at Walled Lake Central High, and
state solo and ensemble fests.
The cantors at Temple Israel were quick
to take advantage of her talents. Cantor
Michael Smolash invited her
to join a teen tefilah (prayer)
team when she was 13, and she
stayed with it till she went to
college. The teens led services
three or four times a year.
Despite the many accolades
she received for her singing,
Pearsall didn’t see music as
a career. She was determined to go to the
University of Michigan but never consid-

ered its music school. Her father, Robert
McMillan, is a computer scientist who
touted the benefits of a career in the field.
Pearsall started as a computer science major
but felt frustrated when she didn’t enjoy her
studies.

HER ‘AHA’ MOMENT
After her freshman year at Michigan, she
went to Israel on a Birthright trip and “it
made a lightbulb go off,
” she said. “I saw the
cantorate as a way to bridge my two pas-
sions, music and Jewish identity.
”
Back in Ann Arbor, she switched to a
joint major in Jewish studies and anthro-
pology and started planning to apply to
cantorial school.
On the weekends, she would return to
Temple Israel, where the cantors taught her
how to lead various services. For two years,
she led High Holiday services for a congre-
gation in Flint.
Her parents were pleasantly surprised by
her decision, she said, adding, “My broth-
er, Scott, just graduated from Michigan in
computer science, so my dad has his com-
puter person.
”
Those who knew Pearsall at Temple Israel
were not surprised at her change of direc-
tion.
“Jenna always represented the very best
aspects of our community,
” Smolash said.
“Congregants were always moved by her
gorgeous voice, her inspiring leadership and
her tremendous heart. It is such a pleasure
to see her step up to a pulpit like Central
Synagogue, where her talents will have a
wide and creative impact on American
Jewish worship music.
”
He said it was an extra pleasure to see
her sharing Temple Israel melodies with her
new congregation.
Steve Weiss of West Bloomfield, a regular
at Temple Israel services, has been Pearsall’s
fan for many years. Whenever the teen
group participated in services, she really
stood out, he said.
After the deaths of his mother and
brother, Weiss started a shivah minyan and
invited Jenna to be one of its leaders. “One
woman heard her and said, ‘Oh, my God,
she’s better than Barbra Streisand,
’” Weiss
recalled. “When she chants, her neshamah
[soul] is for everyone to see. She is a gift to
the Jewish people.
”
Pearsall spent five years in cantorial train-

OUR COMMUNITY

Jenna Pearsall

Temple Israel alum will be installed as cantor
at New York’s Central Synagogue.
Call her Cantor

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Cantor
Michael
Smolash

Cantor Neil
Michaels