Introducing Temple’s New Cantor

Temple is excited to announce that Margo Wagner will be joining our clergy team as Assistant Cantor beginning July 1, 2026. She is expected to complete her ordination at Hebrew Union College in May.

“The Search Committee was impressed with Cantor Wagner’s warmth and authenticity, her deep passion for cultivating relationships across generations, her extensive experience working with youth and her lifelong connection to music and Judaism,” says Cantor Vicky Glikin. “We are delighted to welcome her to the clergy team.”

Cantor Wagner served as student cantor at two New York synagogues: West End Temple in Neponsit and Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady; and at Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, piano and percussion. She has served as a songleader at URJ Greene Family Camp and at Maurice B. Shwayder Camp in Idaho Springs, Colorado. In addition, Cantor Wagner has worked as an Education Fellow with the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Mississippi, where she created curricula for 11 communities across the South, including Temple Emanu-El, and visited our community.

“We were fortunate to interview many great candidates, and are thrilled that Cantor Wagner is such a strong fit for Temple. Her experience working with youth, b’nai mitzvah students and parents, as well as her strengths in pastoral care and teaching, will greatly benefit Temple and our families,” say Michelle Whitman and Scott McCartney, co-chairs of the Search Committee.

Cantor Wagner received a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Sacred Music and a minor in Hebrew from Indiana University, where she also studied abroad in Israel at Hebrew University and Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

“I am thrilled to step into my role as a cantor at Temple Emanu-El,” says Cantor Wagner. “I commit to helping our congregants see the Divine in one another—through music, through prayer, and through genuine kindness and compassion. This is how we create sacred community together.”

We are grateful to members of the Search Committee for their wisdom, heart and dedication:
Sara M. Albert, President
BJ Antweil
Jamie Asch
Graham Coombs
Janet Elkin
Meredith J. Fried Fedyk, Executive Director
Andrew Gilbert
Cantor Vicky Glikin
Gayle Johansen
Mark Kleinman
Jessica Kruger
Scott McCartney, co-chair
Fonya Mondell
Rachel Fine Moreland
Sydney Olinick
Meaders Ozarow
Jim Parrish
Brad Sham
Rabbi David Stern
Michelle Whitman, co-chair
Rachel Wilson
Maddie Wolf

We are deeply grateful to Martha Bowden for her administrative support throughout the process.

L’Shalom,

Rabbi David Stern
Cantor Vicky Glikin
Sara M. Albert, President
Meredith J. Fried Fedyk, Executive Director