Cantor Amanda Edmondson
Cantor Amanda Edmondson is thrilled to be back home in Roanoke, and even more excited to join Rabbi Cohen at Temple Emanuel, where Cantor Edmondson grew up and first discovered that she wanted to be a cantor.
Cantor Edmondson shares much history with Temple Emanuel. Her parents, Scott and Bonnie Winter, have been members since the mid-80s. Scott is a past president of Temple Emanuel, and Bonnie is a past Sisterhood president, as well as a long-time Chailites (choir) member.
In 1997, Cantor Edmondson under the guidance of Rabbi Kathy Cohen, became a Bat Mitzvah at this very congregation. Additionally, she is proud to have been one of the first members of the Temple Emanuel’s SCOTTY youth group.
After earning her BA in Linguistics, with minors in Vocal Performance and Spanish at the University of Tennessee, she served as a cantorial soloist at Temple Emanuel, as well as an instructor at the Jewish Community Preschool and Community High School.
Cantor Edmondson received her Master of Sacred Music degree in 2012 and Cantorial Ordination in 2013, both from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music in New York. During cantorial school, Cantor Edmondson served as a student cantor, B’nei Mitzvah tutor for various congregations, and was a staff member at the URJ Camp Newman.
Cantor Edmondson’s first cantorial position was at Congregation Shomer Emunim in Toledo, Ohio. While there, she met Ted Edmondson, now her husband, who lived in Southern California. They pursued a long-distance relationship, and after becoming engaged, moved to San Jose, California, where they have spent the last five years.
In San Jose, Cantor Edmondson served as the cantor of Temple Emanu-El, while Ted worked as a Water Professional for California Water. After being married, they had two children, Evelyn, who is now three, and Jonas, who is a year old. They decided to make the move to Roanoke when Ted was offered a position with the Winter family business - Winter Properties. They could not pass up the opportunity to live close to family, including Cantor Edmondson's parents, her sister, brother-in-law, and nephews. She and her family are happy to be in Roanoke.
