Jews in the Land of Disney Cantor Nina Fine -She's here, she's there, she's everywhere

You may have seen her. You may have sat in synagogue while she was the cantor during a shabbat service in one of the many Jewish institutions in the Orlando area. She is the extremely versatile, tremendously talented Cantor Nina Fine. Currently, she works as a freelance cantor and educator and has led services and/or taught at six synagogues in the Orlando area, including High Holiday Cantor for the past seven years at Temple Beth El in Ormond Beach.

Or perhaps you saw her on stage at Carnegie Hall in Midtown Manhattan, or performing at The Academy of Music on Broad Street in Philadelphia or The Kennedy Center and/or The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. These are only a few of the prestigious venues in which she has graced the stage.

For 15 years Fine was a featured and ensemble singer with Peter Nero and The Philly Pops. Performing with such noted talents as Jodi Benson, (the voice of Disney's "Little Mermaid"), Marin Mazzie, (star in the original "Kiss Me Kate"), William Michals (the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast," Javert in "Les Miserables" and The Phantom in "Phantom of the Opera") to name a few.

Cantor Fine has made numerous appearances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Albany Symphony among other orchestras and ensembles, singing everything from Opera and Oratorio to Jazz and Broadway music.

A mezzo soprano, Cantor Fine has a B.A. Minor in Theatre at George Washington University. She's trained and performed in such venerated venues such as the Musical Theater Intensive, Artistic New Direction, Collaborative Arts Project 21, and Walnut Street Theater. She's shared the stage and trained with such notables as Carol Fox - Prescott among other nationally recognized coaches.

How does one who obviously has a serious talent, who has performed on some of the most prestigious musical venues in America, who has shared the stage with the finest Broadway talent and Opera singers, and who has trained with some of the most venerable national and internationally recognized vocal coaches, end up a cantor performing on the bimas, the stages and the floors of our Jewish Institutions in the Orlando area?

Perhaps the answer begins in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in the town of Somerset where Fine grew up. "I had a relatively normal childhood. My grandparents owned and operated a farm nearby in Mitchellville, Maryland. It was a dairy farm and at one point my grandparents grew tobacco. I remember they had a milk route where they would deliver milk to homes in the area. All the glass milk bottles had a Magen David imprinted on them. My grandfather died when I was five years old. After his death, mother's brother took over running the farm and ran the country store that they owned. Grandmother was a first generation, Jewish American farmer, born in Baltimore who was Conservadox. She was also fluent in Yiddish. She kept kosher and I remember almost every Friday evening we would have Shabbat dinners in the farmhouse and sleep over with her mother, attending synagogue together and playing on the farm. The farm and Shabbat dinners were beautiful times in my life. They instilled an appreciation of my Jewish heritage, and I experienced the love, beauty and warmth of my family."

Cantor Fine's first memories of singing was riding in the car with her mother, singing to pass the time. "We would sing old-fashioned tunes and harmonize together. We also would sing the prayers at synagogue together Saturday mornings in Bowie, Maryland and would harmonize with the cantor," Fine said.

Fine attended Jewish Day School from first to sixth grade. When she was 13 years old there was a semi-professional, all-adult choir – Shir Chadash Chorale. She remembers calling the director of the choir and asking if she could audition. At first the director wasn't receptive, but Fine's persistence paid off. He let her audition, and she was the first person under 18 who was allowed into the choral group.

Also, during this time, Fine performed in a documentary film for the Arlington National Cemetery about Robert E. Lee's Arlington House. She played the role of Mary Custis as a little girl. Mary Custis grew up to be Robert E. Lee's wife. "They treated me like a little princess actor, and it was the first role that I got paid. I used to figure skate and this experience led me to give up skating to concentrate all my energy into performing."

During junior and senior high school, she pursued singing and acting wherever and whenever she could. During this time Fine performed at the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts, which is now known as the Imagination Stage in affiliation with the Kennedy Center. In her senior year Fine was Mabel, the lead in Gilbert and Sullivan's Operetta "The Pirates of Penzance," as well as performing in community theater.

Fine attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in order to be close to home as her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Fine graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology. Her mother passed away during finals when she was 21 and did not get to see her graduate.

After working for a year as a preschool teacher in Glen Echo, Maryland, Fine then went on to pursue her master's degree in social work at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She stayed in Philly and worked at Family Support Services, putting her education to work to help children who experienced child abuse and neglect. After two years her father became ill and Fine returned to Maryland to care for her father for a time.

"I decided instead of going back to Philadelphia I thought I'd give it a go in New York City." Fine began auditioning for roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. "I was hustling with audition after audition until after six months I began getting call backs and gigs and then that's when 9/11 happened.

"Everything was shut down, and I was faced with the reality of how to make a living in those difficult times. My decision was to go back to Philadelphia to invest in real estate as I had purchased a rental property while attending graduate school. The income gave me the financial stability to live in New York City while auditioning. So, I decided to invest in more real estate, primarily one- and two-bedroom rental properties.

"Eventually post 9/11, when things began to open up, I got a part in an Off-Broadway show that ran for three months. After that gig ended, I worked for the New York Gilbert Sullivan players and did a few Off-Broadway plays. At that time, I also juggled working for Opera Delaware, performing for the New Rochelle Opera Company as well as traveling back to Philly to sing with the Philly Pops. I was so busy performing, travelling... it was an exciting time in my life."

In 2002, Fine met her husband to be, Tony Caio, who also was in the entertainment business. Caio was an animation director and owned his own animation studio called DMA animation. He did work for Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and Bally gaming to name a few of his accounts. They were blessed with the birth of their son Dylan in 2007.

"We lived in Greenwich Village and when my son was 3 or 4, as I was participating in Betty Buckley's musical theater workshop ... during a meditation she was leading, I had an epiphany that can only be described as a powerful moment in my life. I saw myself clearly as a conduit to God ... through music. That's when I realized that I wanted to attend cantorial school and share my voice with my tribe." Fine thereafter enrolled in Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute and her studies to be a cantor began.

They tried raising their son at their weekend house in Hudson, N.Y. "The schools weren't good, and we were tired of the New York grind, so when Dylan was in first grade, we visited and picked Winter Park, Florida to relocate to and began a new chapter in our lives."

And as they say, "The rest is history."

Cantor Nina Fine currently works as a program director with the Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, leading services and providing entertainment for the elder community. "I enjoy working with seniors and brightening their day," Fine said.

She created an adoptive grandparent program connecting Jewish children with Jewish elders during covid when no one was allowed into the buildings. Since then, the program has waned. Fine would like to continue it but needs to find financing in support of the program. Fine also cares for her older sister who is recently disabled and has relocated her to be closer.

In addition, she runs an independent Hebrew School via zoom, for 1st through 8th grade, called Kitah Shalom and a post B'nei Mitzvah group that meets online monthly to practice a mitzvah together for the following month. Cantor Fine leads services twice monthly at Temple Israel of DeLand and has been a featured performer and MC at the Jewish Heritage Festival. She also performs various Jewish-themed concerts around the country including a Bernstein-Sondheim Concert and a beautiful Holocaust chamber piece.

Fine's son Dylan, a rising senior at Trinity Preparatory School, is an accomplished pianist and has been her paid accompanist often in the Jewish community including at Congregation of Reform Judaism, Temple Beth-El of Ormond Beach, Temple Israel of DeLand, and as a volunteer with The Jewish Pavilion Senior Services.

Fine provides the following services: Cantorial services for Shabbat, as well as High Holiday Services; Jewish Composer Concerts; Bar and Bat Mitzvahs; Weddings; Baby namings; Funerals; Unveilings; Jewish Mommy and Me classes; B'nei Mitzvah classes and tutoring; Hebrew Reading lessons – Both children and adults; and a puppet show called "Mitzvah Monkey" for kids. (A hilarious interpretation of the Jewish Holidays in your home or synagogue).

Cantor Nina Fine is extremely versatile and tremendously talented. She lights up any room and brings fun and joy to Judaism. The Jewish community in the Orlando area is lucky to have her.

You can learn more about Cantor Fine at her website: http://www.ninafine.com

You can contact her at: nina@ninafine.com or call 917-923–9772.