Staff

Lauren is a product of the Reform Movement — attending URJ Camp Coleman and participating in NFTY (the Reform Jewish Youth Movement). For her undergraduate studies, she attended the College of Charleston in South Carolina where she studied Comparative Religions. Lauren graduated from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2012 at the Los Angeles campus.

She’s worked for nearly a decade in various capacities in Jewish community services. Prior to coming to Akron, Lauren was the educator at Congregation Kol Ami in Vancouver, WA.

She and her husband, Zach, live in Cleveland and enjoy the ease of living in Northeast Ohio.

Leslie Frye is a vocalist, pianist, and music educator from Akron, Ohio. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Music from Kent State University with a double major in Music Education and Vocal Performance and a minor in Secondary Education.  An accomplished musician, Frye has been singing at Temple Israel Akron since 2014 in our High Holy Days services and is a core musician of the Grammy Award-winning Baroque ensemble, Apollo’s Fire. She performs regularly throughout NE Ohio as a vocalist and pianist.  She has sung the National Anthem at every Akron Marathon Race Series race since its inception in 2003.

As an educator, she has served as choral conductor and musical theatre director, and teaches master classes and workshops.  Having her own music studio for twenty-seven years, she specializes in one-on-one voice, piano, music theory, and composition lessons with students of all ages.  She is passionate about the environment, equality, and social justice. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, knitting, and baking. Leslie’s life is enriched by her loving husband Gregory and their young sons, Jasper and Harrison.