Angela Warnick Buchdahl was invested as a cantor in 1999 and also ordained as a rabbi in 2001 from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York where she was a Wexner Graduate fellow. Prior to her appointment as cantor at Central Synagogue, Cantor Buchdahl served as associate rabbi/cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, Cantor Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained as cantor or rabbi in North America. She earned her B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale University where she was active in religious life on campus and performed frequently with her a capella group.
Cantor Buchdahl has been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading services and has served as faculty for the Wexner Heritage Foundation and for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Kallot programs. She serves on the Board of the Multiracial Jewish Network and regularly teaches and writes on the topic of diversity within the Jewish community. Cantor Buchdahl and her husband Jacob Buchdahl have three young children.
