Your Bountiful Light CD and Companion Book
“The music has vitality and invites even the most unmusical bystander to sing along.”
Joseph McLellan
A Musical ‘Light’ on Hebrew Texts: Composer’s Work Sung by Congregations Nationwide
Washington Post Music Critic
“Norma Brooks has created a bridge that weaves the ancient words of Jewish liturgy with compelling melodies in a variety of musical styles. The result is both unique and unerringly right.”
Dr. Everett Fox
Professor of Judaic and Biblical Studies, Clark University MA
Norma Brooks began composing original Jewish liturgical music in 1984. Her first piece, Ul’amtuye, set to the Aramaic text recited before the Torah reading—“May You bestow on us of Your bountiful light and receive our prayer in compassion”—became a beloved part of her Washington, DC congregation’s Sabbath service.
Guided by deep textual study, Norma approaches every composition by immersing herself in the words, exploring how meaning and emotion can shape musical expression. Her melodies give ancient texts renewed vitality and spiritual resonance.
Drawing on cantorial chazzanut, classical, jazz, gospel, klezmer, South American, and Hasidic traditions, Norma’s style is rich and eclectic. Cantor Ramón Tasat observed that her work “rings true to the text… responding with a modernity that never compromises its integrity, in the best cantorial tradition that speaks to the heart.”
Norma’s music has been performed widely, beginning with her 2002 premiere at Tifereth Israel Congregation in Washington, DC. She has presented her compositions at B’nai Jeshurun and Park Slope Jewish Center (New York), Summit Jewish Center and Ohr Shalom (New Jersey), Beth El (Massachusetts), Ohr Kodesh and the National Havurah Institute (Maryland), and the Washington Jewish Folk Festival. Her collaborative concert Shared Roots in Spiritual Song with The Heritage Signature Chorale, and her PsalmFullofSoul premiere at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club, highlight her ongoing exploration of the spiritual power of song.