Cantor Larisa Averbakh is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia and holds degrees from the Rimsky-Korsakov School of Music, the Leningrad Technological Institute, and the Petersburg Jewish University. . She has also completed studies at the Melton Center of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has mastered Yiddish repertoire under the guidance of a renowned Jewish singer Nechamah Lifshitz (Lifshitzayte) in Tel Aviv.

Cantor Averbakh was privileged to participate in the renaissance of Jewish life in Russia. At the Institute for Problems in Jewish Education at the Petersburg Jewish University, she developed music curricula for Jewish day and Sunday schools and published a series of collections, "Songs of Jewish Holidays." Cantor Averbakh was recognized as one of the leading Jewish musicians in Russia. She performed recitals of Jewish art and folk songs throughout the former USSR, Israel, Europe and the U.S. and recorded a collection of Yiddish songs entitled "Shnirele Perele."

Cantor Averbakh immigrated to the USA in May 1997. She earned her Master's Degree in Sacred Music from the School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and was invested as a Cantor in May, 2002. Cantor Averbakh has served Congregation Beth Israel since July, 2002. She is happy to share her love for Jewish music with the congregation and broader community. The highlights of her work include adult and children's choirs, monthly service with the Fiddler under the Roof band and annual cantorial concerts.

Cantor Averbakh is married to Dmitri Leiderman, and they have two children, Michael and Pauline.

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