Ami had a great gift, not only for writing beautiful melodies, but for musical interpretation of text. I have told many people over the years that his music sings itself.

When the musical director at Valley Beth Shalom was on maternity leave, Ami came back for a brief stint as choir director. Needless to say, those of us who had left VBS for one reason or another flocked back to sing with him.

We loved it when Ami would take the time to explain to us how he came to write a particular piece, how it tied in with the text, and what he was trying to achieve. There wasn't a singer present who wouldn't have happily listened to him for hours. With Ami, we were truly like an extended family.

Personally, I've always felt that Ami didn't get the credit he deserved as a choir director. Having sung for some outstanding choral conductors (Paul Salamunovich and Jon Bailey, to name just a couple), I feel qualified to say that Ami did a terrific job, not just as our accompanist and composer in residence, but as our conductor. And he did it with just one hand (while the other played the keyboard)! Of course, he used head nods and glares quite effectively as well. By rights, we should've been fried by some of those looks he gave us when we really messed up; we half expected to set off the smoke detectors at times.

Of course, our greatest regret is that we didn't have him longer than we did. We're selfish, but then, we really loved him. We're so grateful for Ami's tremendous musical legacy, and for all the wonderful moments we were privileged to share with him.

Jane Fredgant   more