Cantor Emily Short has played Chava in the original stage reading of “Fiddler on the Roof” with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. Her newest role is cantor at Temple Emanuel in Kensington.

Short moved from Albany, New York, to become the Reform shul’s sixth full-time cantor, starting July 1.

“I’m so looking forward to serving Temple Emanuel as their cantor,” Short said in a press release. “This is the beginning of a beautiful new chapter for our community — one filled with music, prayer and connection.”

She succeeds Cantor Lindsay Kanter, who served Temple Emanuel from 2017 to 2025. For the past year, Cantor Lauren Adesnik served as interim cantor.

“I love being on the bimah and sharing music with people,” Short told Washington Jewish Week. “I find that sacred music is a really wonderful bridge to connection with others.”

That relatability is what prompted Short to pursue the cantorate, a field that she said has surprising similarities to her theater experience.

“I think ‘stage presence’ is a really big piece of what it is to be a cantor,” she said. “Something that has really resonated with me over the years is knowing that I’m not performing per se, but there’s a lot of performance-based aspects of my job.”

Before moving to the nation’s capital, Short served Congregation Beth Emeth, a Reform Jewish community in Albany. She is a member of the American Conference of Cantors, Women’s Cantor Network and the Capital District Board of Rabbis and Cantors. She is also a trained mikveh guide.

Short was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 2023 with dual master’s degrees in sacred music and Jewish nonprofit management. She graduated from Muhlenberg College with a bachelor’s in theater and minors in music and Jewish studies.

After her undergraduate studies, Short worked for a little over a year for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, starting as an intern and working her way up to development director.

“My experience at the Yiddish Theatre was really wonderful,” she said. “It kind of solidified the idea that I want to be in a space where I’m sharing stories with people, connecting with people, singing and living Jewish values on a daily basis.”

Short added that she not only feels fortunate to have been part of the original stage reading of “Fiddler on the Roof,” but she’s glad she didn’t go straight from undergraduate into graduate school.

“I’m glad that I took the year that I did,” Short said. “I feel like I grew a lot in that year and have had a better understanding of why I want to become a cantor. This path is not something you want to start if you’re not sure you want to do it, because it’s five long years of school. My year at the Yiddish Theater was exactly what I needed to fuel my journey to become a cantor.”

A self-described “funky, outgoing kid” who loved to sing, Short grew up in Southern California.

“I often got put in the spotlight because I had the voice, so making friends as a child was sometimes challenging, but being at synagogue, I felt completely myself, just knowing that I was going to be able to sing there and be Jewish there and be me there was something that was really special,” Short said.

She looks forward to getting a feel for the Temple Emanuel community.

“I always say the first year of a new position is really rooted in a lot of listening,” Short said. “The community chose me to be their cantor because of the skills that I bring immediately to the table, but I think a lot of this first year is going to be me getting to know the traditions of the community, the minhag, the different aspects, just getting to know who they are and who Temple Emanuel is.”

Her next few weeks will encompass many coffee dates and meetings to connect with members of the community.

Its commitment to social justice was one of the reasons Temple Emanuel stood out to Short.

“I love how much our lay leaders are at the center of fueling that and feel really called to live their Jewish values in that capacity,” she said. “That’s one of the big reasons why I decided to [work] here.”

Short also looks forward to connecting with her fellow cantors in the area, something she wasn’t able to do in her previous cantorial role.

“This area has so many congregations, so many communities,” she said of the DMV. “I was the only cantor up in my Albany area full time, so to be in a community where I’m not the only cantor anymore is really exciting.”

Two of her classmates from cantorial school were Temple Shalom’s Cantor Ze’evi Tovlev and Temple Rodef Shalom’s Cantor Sydney Michaeli. Short has plans to take part in a cantors’ concert with some of her local colleagues “to showcase the talent in the area.”

“I’m really looking forward to being in community with other cantors,” she said.

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com