Music and Sounds Across Traditions: An Evening of Listening

Rabbi Josh Warshawsky serves as the rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim in Columbus, OH. He is a nationally touring Jewish musician, teacher, and composer who seeks to build intentional praying communities, and travels to synagogues, camps, and schools across the country sharing his music and teachings on prayer. He is originally from Chicago, and has released five albums of Jewish music, most recently in February 2025. Josh composes melodies to open up new possibilities for understanding the deep meaning of the words of Jewish tradition. He was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and lives in Bexley, OH with his wife Adina and their children Jona and Ziv. Go to his website for more information. 

A message from Rabbi Warshawsky: "My mission is to help people find a spiritual and meaningful home for themselves in order to live lives filled with purpose. I am guided and motivated by my belief that human beings are spiritual seekers and meaning makers. Through prayer, through song and harmony, through spirituality, through ritual, through community, and through justice and fairness, we can build meaning and intention in our lives and the lives of those who walk beside us. I seek to do this in my music and in our synagogue Agudas Achim. At Agudas Achim we strive to nurture a community where every person feels seen, valued, and held, and where they are empowered to authentically express their whole self and identity to our communal home. Similarly, the core emotions of my new album are joy, hope, and love. We need more radical joy, we need more audacious hope, we need more unflinching love."

SGI USA

Zip Irvin, Saxophone

 The Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is part of a global community-based network of more than 11 million people in 192 countries and territories that practice the humanistic philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism centered on respect for the dignity of life. As members of the SGI, we are committed to dialogue and nonviolence based on the conviction that individual happiness and the realization of peace are inextricably linked. Find more information on the SGI website. 

Matthew ”Zip" Irvin is a musician playing woodwinds (saxophone, clarinet and flute) across a spectrum of genres and in different music markets with a performing history and discography spanning 1976 to now: Washington DC, Richmond VA, central North Carolina, Lexington KY and currently in Cincinnati. He is currently collaborating with pianist and singer Daven Roberson in the nonprofit “Soul Music for Seniors” which brings live performances to senior living and community centers. He also teaches sociology online and in the community college system in Ohio serving incarcerated college students. He has been practicing SGI Buddhism since 1987.

Illuminati debuted in 2001 and has been performing since 2009. They are one of the only LGBTQ+ sacred music ensembles in the United States. Referring to a Latin expression meaning “the enlightened,” Illuminati was created to respond to the community’s expressed desire for musical performances of a sacred or spiritual nature. Its mission is to extend outreach, particularly to religious organizations, while respecting members’ individual spiritual beliefs. 

Illuminati performs monthly at various religious institutions and events throughout central Ohio and sometimes beyond, and is proud to be a bridge between the LGBTQIA+ and religious communities. Illuminati works to demonstrate that we all have a place in sacred spaces, and are whole, holy and loved. Illuminati’s mission is to demonstrate through song that ALL people have a place in the religious community.