"Uncommon Voices" began as a means of welcoming our neighbors to our new home during our inaugural year. We have continued this program, where a variety of notable speakers and performers come to our synagogue to address our congregation and our friends. This series has included talks by ESPN baseball announcer Jon Miller, Maryland Governor (then Baltimore Mayor)  Martin O'Malley, The Morgan State Choir, Maestro Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, producer David Simon and author Laura Lippman and others.

Morgan State Choir

The Morgan State University Choir is one of the nation’s most prestigious university choral ensembles. The choral forces of this critically acclaimed choir include The University Choir, which is over 130 voices strong, and The Morgan Singers – approximately 40 voices. While classical, gospel, and contemporary popular music comprise the choir’s repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on preserving the heritage of the spiritual, especially in the historic practices of performance.

Andres Alonso

Andres Alonso is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Baltimore City Public School System in Baltimore, Maryland. Alonso came to Baltimore from the New York City Public School system in July of 2007. He had been deputy chancellor In New York for the year prior to his appointment in Baltimore. Alonso graduated from Columbia University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, earned a law degree at Harvard University School of Law and then an Ed.M. in 1999 and Ed.D. in 2006 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Marin Alsop

In September 2007, Marin Alsop made history with her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the first woman to head a major American orchestra. This mirrored her ongoing success in the United Kingdom where she was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony from 2002-08 and is now Conductor Emeritus. The first artist to win both Gramophone's "Artist of the Year" award and the Royal Philharmonic Society's Conductor's Award in the same season, Alsop was named to a MacArthur Fellowship, won the Classical Brit Award for Best Female Artist, a European Women of Achievement Award, and in was inducted in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Taylor Branch

Taylor Branch is the bestselling author of Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63 (which won the Pulitzer Prize), Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65, and At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968. The author of two other nonfiction books and a novel, Branch is a former staff member of The Washington Monthly, Harper's, and Esquire. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dan Rodricks

Dan Rodricks is longtime Baltimore Sun columnist and host of WYPR's Midday. Dan has won numerous regional and national journalism awards, and he has frequently been cited as Baltimore's favorite columnist by Baltimore magazine and the City Paper. Previously, Dan was a commentator on WBAL-TV, host of a talk show on WBAL-AM, host of documentaries on Maryland Public Television and, from 1995 to 2000, host of the popular Rodricks For Breakfast show on WMAR-TV. He is the author of two books about altimore and lives in the city.

Jon Miller

Jon Miller is recognized as one of the best baseball commentators in the business.  In 1996, Miller received his second CableACE Award in the "Sports Play-by-Play" category for his work on ESPN; his first came in 1990.  In 1986, he was named "Baltimore's Best Radio Sportscaster" by Baltimore Magazine and "Best Play-by-Play Broadcaster" by Washingtonian Magazine.

Paul Sarbanes

Paul Sarbanes is a Democrat, is a former United States Senator who represented the state of Maryland. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in Maryland history, having served from 1977 until 2007. He did not seek re-election in 2006, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Ben Cardin. In 2002 Sarbanes co-sponsored the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, which put his name in the headlines.

Governor Martin O'Malley

Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, has been reelected for a second term as Governer of Maryland. Previously, he served as the Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007.

David Simon

David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series, best known as the creator of the HBO television series The Wire. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street, on which Simon served as a writer and producer. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows.[1]

Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The Baltimore Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor’s Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society

The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, now in its 45th season, is one of Maryland's premier cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Full Chorus, Orchestra, and Chamber Chorus perform throughout the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, D.C., New York, and in Europe.