Signature Sheya

A: Speak to Sheya

After more than three decades on the front lines, veteran Jewish music producer Sheya Mendlowitz is still at it — sniffing out new stars, genres, and styles for a most discerning crowd, and making sure there’s enough pizza to keep everyone happy when the work seems overwhelming. From Creating a young chassid named Avremel to finding a class act for HASC, he never ceased bringing freshness to an ever-changing, discriminating industry.

I keep clearing my throat but Sheya Mendlowitz doesn’t take the hint.

Here and there, over the course of our interview, I hum a few notes. “You never know,” an industry veteran told me. “Everyone else hears with their ears. He hears with all five senses. He might just see something in you.”

But Sheya doesn’t jump up and say, “Sign here.” I guess it’s not bashert — the magazine will just have to continue to be my stage. It’s not that I have a particularly good voice, but Sheya, I am told, is a magician: he doesn’t only discover stars — he can even invent them.