FOUR TOP ORTHODOX CANTORS TO PERFORM AT VALLEY SYNAGOGUE.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Respected by their peers as premier talents in vocally interpreting Hebrew prayers and hymns, four of the world's best Orthodox cantors will perform together for the first time, before a sold-out crowd of 1,100 on Sunday at Valley Beth Shalom.

The Ventura Boulevard temple, with one of the San Fernando Valley's largest congregations, will host New Yorkers Aaron Bensoussan and Benzion Miller, Yaakov Motzen of Canada and Moshe Stern of Israel, according to temple spokeswoman Sheila Sloman.

Beverly Miller, a member of the temple who arranged the performance, said concert tickets priced at $36 and $18 sold quickly. "Their voices are melodic; their voices are superb. They know the liturgy," she said.

"I mean, they are the top," Miller added. "This has been a dream to bring these cantors together."

Herschel Fox, cantor at the Ventura Boulevard synagogue, said the four have mastered a musical art form that is unique to the religious and cultural heritage of the Jewish faith, and incorporates a great deal of improvisation and vocal flourishes.

These days, he said, many synagogues and temples are aligned with Judaism's Conservative and Reform branches, meaning widespread exposure to the Orthodox cantorial style is increasingly rare.

"There's not one full-time Orthodox cantor in the San Fernando Valley," Fox said, noting that the area - together with the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Conejo and Simi valleys - is home to roughly 217,000 Jews.

Stern, a tenor, learned his craft from his father, a cantor in an Orthodox Jewish community in Budapest. A resident of Jerusalem, he is regarded as the premier living cantor, according to biographical information provided by Valley Beth Shalom.

Motzen, a native of Tel Aviv who made his singing debut at age 6, sings for a synagogue in Montreal and is a fifth-generation cantor. While serving in the Israeli army, Motzen performed for wounded soldiers after the Yom Kippur War.

Miller also got an early start on his career - at age 5 - when he began singing at bar mitzvahs and other Jewish functions. He was tutored by a cantor father, and by age 18 he was cantor of a New Jersey temple. Miller now serves as cantor of a Brooklyn synagogue.

Bensoussan, born in Morocco, combines Middle Eastern and Spanish rhythms with his tenor voice. Like the other three, Bensoussan performs in concert halls and synagogues around the world. His home base is a temple in Long Island, Fox said.

Along with singing traditional Orthodox prayers and hymns, the cantors will perform some lighter fare, including Yiddish songs with lyrics that poke fun at cantors, Fox said.

He didn't expect the concert to become competitive, with the four virtuosos trying to outdo each other - even though "some jealousy" among the performers would be understandable, Fox said. "But with these guys, they're all so good and secure, that it doesn't exist," he said.

Most of the proceeds from ticket sales will be used to cover staging costs of the concert, along with the cantors' travel and lodging expenses, Miller said.

Any additional funds will be used for Valley Beth Shalom's charitable and community service projects, such as providing meals for AIDS patients at Sherman Oaks Hospital, supplying clothing, food and blankets for several battered women's shelters in the San Fernando Valley, and stocking a food bank for needy families, she said.