Born on April 25, 1952 in Strasburg, he was the last pupil, before it closed definitely, of the Hazan’s School in Paris, but he was also, and most of all, the pupil of Monsieur Bertrand Joseph, who was cantor in Strasbourg.
In 1969, at the age of 17, he replaced cantors in Ingwiller, Sélestat, Troyes, Metz and Thionville.
At the age of 21, in September 1973, he was appointed in Haguenau. He walked away seven years later, to enter Mulhouse’s synagogue, in 1980. He worked there for 12 years, recording cassettes and CD’s in order to keep and preserve the liturgy from Alsace. He received in December 1991 the Honor Medal of Music Societies and Choirs, given by the French minister of Culture and Communication, in recognition of his work achieved in the field of liturgy and for the choirs he created.
Michel Heymann taught students in the communities of East of France. He was one of the last keepers of the Ashkenazi liturgy from the Rhine valley, especially in the Alsace-Lorraine region.
In 2001, he was appointed President of the Association of Cantors of Alsace and Lorraine.
Since August 1992, Michel Heymann is the cantor of the Jewish community of Luxembourg. He created a new choir that accompanies him sometimes during Shabbat and religious ceremonies. He is often requested in France and in the rest of the world to participate to official ceremonies or concerts. He retired in April 2017, while continuing to officiate from time to time in Luxembourg and in communities that invite him. Since July 2017, he conducts the choir of the synagogue of Nancy.
Michel Heymann sang with the greatest hazanim, among them Estrongo Nachama ז”ל (Berlin) Moché Stern (USA) Adolphe Attia (Paris) Benjamin Muller (Anvers) Benzion Miller (USA) Raphaël Cohen (Paris) and choirs from the Great Synagogue of Strasbourg, the Ensemble Vocal Hébraïca, the synagogue de la Victoire in Paris and with the choir of hazanim of Jerusalem.
In December 2022, Michel Heymann donated his musical archives to the Institut Européen des Musiques Juives.
Consult the Michel Heymann collection
View audio and video documents by Michel Heymann
Watch the video Michel Heymann and the Ashkenazi Liturgy in the Valley of the Rhine
Learn more about Michel Heymann and listen to music online
