Ben Steinberg

Ben Steinberg (22 January 1930 – 10 February 2023) was a Canadian composer, conductor, organist, and music educator. A member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he is known for his contributions to Jewish music. He has presented many programs of Jewish music (some featuring his own compositions) for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and has presented similar programs in lecture-recitals throughout Canada, the United States, Australia, and Japan. He has also contributed articles on Jewish music to a number of publications. Several of his original manuscripts and papers are held in the collection at the library of the University of Calgary.

Steinberg was a founding member of the Guild of Temple Musicians, an affiliate of the American Conference of Cantors. The GTM named their most prestigious award for young composers of Jewish music after Steinberg, the Ben Steinberg Young Composer Award. Steinberg was an honorary member of the American Conference of Cantors and a featured composer for Transcontinental Music Publications, the largest and oldest publisher of Jewish music.

Steinberg died on 10 February 2023, at the age of 93.

Early life Born to Jewish parents in Winnipeg, Steinberg was the son of cantor and conductor Alexander Steinberg. By the age of eight he was singing as a soloist with his father's synagogue choir. He was a pupil of Samuel Dolin (piano), Weldon Kilburn (singing), and John Weinzweig (composition) at The Royal Conservatory of Music from 1948 to 1951 and 1957 to 1960. He also studied music education at the University of Toronto where he earned a Bachelor of Music in 1961.