Velvel Pasternak (October 1, 1933 – June 11, 2019) was a musicologist, conductor, arranger, producer, and publisher specializing in Jewish music. In 1981, the New York Times described him as "an expert on the music of the Hasidic sect and probably the largest publisher of Jewish music anywhere, although he was quick to note that publishing Jewish music is a business that attracts few rivals."

Biography

Velvel Pasternak was born in Toronto in 1933 to immigrant parents from Poland. He received an Orthodox Jewish education and was a graduate of Yeshiva University High School for Boys (class of 1951) and of Yeshiva University (class of 1955). He also studied at the Juilliard School, and received a master's in music education from Teachers College, Columbia University. The founder of Tara Publications, he was responsible for the publication of 26 recordings and over 150 books of Jewish music since 1971, spanning the gamut of Israeli, Yiddish, Ladino, cantorial, Hasidic and Holocaust music. He was a regular lecturer on the music of the Hassidim. He was the music teacher at the Congregation Sons of Israel synagogue in Woodmere, NY for many years. He died on June 11, 2019, in New York City.

Published works