Our Musicians
Music is an integral part of Bet Alef. Through melody and chant we support celebration, contemplation, and rejuvenation. With opportunity to listen and opportunity to sing together, music at Bet Alef is an important part of how community is built and worship is enhanced.
Bet Alef enjoys the regular talents of professional and volunteer musicians. In addition to our “regulars” we are frequently joined by community members who choose to share their musical gifts with us.
Dianna Rose
Music Director
Dianna Rose has been a member of Bet Alef since 2001, and the Music Director since 2012. She became an adult Bat Mitzvah at Bet Alef in 2003 and her son a Bat Mitzvah in 2019. Along with her training as a percussionist and vocalist, Dianna is also a Board Certified Music Therapist, and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, focusing on the Expressive Arts and Energy Psychology within her private practice. Her vocational background also includes 30 years in radio broadcasting and voice work. Dianna enjoys creating a spiritual conduit at services through which the energies of music, sound, and song can inspire, center, and uplift others.
Jal Feldman
Piano
Jal Feldman’s musical career was launched when he received a piano for his first birthday. He has been hitting the keys ever since, amassing a repertoire of hundreds of pop songs, show tunes, and standards, as well as classical works. Jal has been the pianist at Bet Alef since 1996 and plays for weekly services and concerts at the Center for Spiritual Living. He offers private piano instruction to children utilizing the Suzuki method of music training and recently joined the faculty of the Music Center of the Northwest. He was the founder, leader and keyboard player of The Jal Feldman Groups, a comprehensive music entertainment service, performing at wedding ceremonies, receptions, parties, conventions and banquets.
Celia Curran
Vocals
Celia was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and was handed a love of music down from her parents and grandparents. She grew up with classic musicals from the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein and was lucky to have a family that encouraged her to pursue music and theater. She began playing viola around the same time she began Hebrew School at Temple B’nai Torah (back when we were still on Mercer Island!) During Hebrew School she was encouraged to sing with the Temple Youth Choir, and it was under the wonderful tutelage of Cantor David Serkin-Poole where she began to discover her talent for singing. Her Bat Mitzvah was a musical revelation, and she continued to be involved with singing in choir and musical theater throughout junior high and high school. Eventually Celia found her way to New York City where she graduated from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music with a degree in Vocal Performance.
A few years later, Celia returned to the PNW where she was invited to audition for the newly formed Seattle Jewish Chorale, now in their 15th season! It was during her first Chanukah performance with the chorale that she was discovered by the music director for a small congregation, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue. She is now part of the music team at Bet Alef as well as continuing to sing with the Seattle Jewish Chorale, both in the main chorus and the chamber group called Banu Lashir, which means “we come here to sing.”
When not singing or rehearsing, Celia is proud to be the Business Development Director for Craft Elixirs, a small, artisan cannabis candy manufacturer. She also enjoys spending time with her husband Brandon and their dog Quincy.
Mike Roufa
Vocals
Mike has worn many musical hats over the years. He has a bachelors in music from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, where he found himself studying the classical music of South India. He’s still not exactly sure how that happened, but a degree is a degree. He’s sung with numerous a cappella groups over the years, including being a founding member of the award-winning Hyannis Sound. He also spent some time fronting a jazz quintet and, briefly, played guitar in a bluegrass duo. To keep the lights on, Mike is a software engineer at Google.
Nathaniel Rose
Vocals