Cantor Emma Maier serves as cantor, spiritual leader, and educator at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, MI. In addition to leading services, prayer, and ritual gatherings of all kinds, Emma prepares and meets one-on-one with pre-b’nei mitzvah teens and their families, works collaboratively with the TBE clergy team and other synagogue staff, plans special events, provides pastoral care, directs TBE’s choir, Kol Halev, teaches in a variety of capacities, and so much more.

Cantor Maier was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) where she was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. She also earned a Masters of Jewish Sacred Music from HUC-JIR. While a student, she served as B’nei Mitzvah tutor for Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, NY and Cantorial intern at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, NY and The Village Temple in NY. In 2023 She served as Cantor at The Village Temple in New York City’s artsy Greenwich Village neighborhood. While attending HUC-JIR, she was an active member of the Worship Working Group (WWG) and helped to shape and support the T’filah culture on campus and organize t’filot for their annual Kallah Retreat.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Emma was a member of Wilshire Boulevard Temple where she sang in the youth choir from elementary school through high school. After being the beneficiary of a robust Jewish education at Brawerman Elementary and Milken Community High School, Emma went on to attend Brandeis University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS) with a minor in Religious Studies.

Emma had the privilege of working as a cantorial soloist in Los Angeles at both Wilshire Boulevard Temple and Sinai Temple. Emma has also worked as an intern at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, studying and researching ritual and the unique relationship between American and Israeli Jewry. She has performed in choirs and as a soloist at numerous venues — including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Opera, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, among other esteemed venues.

When she is not immersed in shul-related activities, Emma enjoys spending time in nature, walking through the farmer’s market gathering fresh produce, and practicing yoga. She loves searching for treasures at vintage and thrift stores, cooking and nourishing friends, listening to and playing folk and americana music, and wandering around museums and bookstores. Emma continues to cultivate her meditation and yoga practices and aspires to share the beauty found in these diverse, contemplative, mystical traditions. Cantor Maier holds in her heart the guiding belief that in the end, we ought to strive to live in pursuit of greater connectedness. Through this striving toward Union we may live in service of something greater than ourselves, and perhaps we may experience the Ineffable.