Ritual Leaders + Musicians

Rabbi Kerry Chaplin

As a ritualist, teacher, and spiritual counselor, Rabbi Kerry Chaplin (yes, that is her real name) practices and preaches an embodied, living spirituality through authentic relationship with one’s own mind, body, and spirit. He believes that sharing this authenticity with others and with the Divine, however you understand the Divine today, deepens connections that help us live better.

Before becoming a rabbi, Rabbi Kerry was a community organizer, living all things justice. In every community where she has served as a rabbi, from Hillel at UCLA and Vassar College, to Lab/Shul, to Beit T’Shuvah, Rabbi Kerry has been committed to helping those at the margins experience connection with themselves, others, and Something Bigger.
She is grateful for her teachers at the Ziegler School, Washington University in St. Louis, her yoga teachers, and so many others known and unknown. She lives and plays with her kiddo Frankie, wife Julia, and kitties, Izzy and Smudgy.

He is excited that Days of Awesome: The Audacity to Live Like It Matters will be a refuge for authentic human and Jewish vitality and connection.

Marnina Schon Wirtschafter

Marnina Schon Wirtschafter (she/they) loves co-creating joyful, accessible, and meaningful ritual experiences, from 30+ b'nei mitzvah services, to the SIJCC Days of Awesome. Rooted in a pluralistic Jewish upbringing in Berkeley, Marnina studied at UCLA, organized with Bend the Arc, and explored Yiddishkayt in Germany and Eastern Europe. As a performer, Marnina starred in the Sundance dramedy series Chanshi, sang and fiddled in the musical Once, recently appeared on Netflix’s Unstable, and played violin on Dropout with the Play It By Ear band!

Micah O’Konis

Micah O’Konis (they/them) is a musician and writer originally from the Chicago suburbs, and moved to LA to study music composition and screenwriting at USC. Micah teaches at SIJCC and leads Jewish music professionally, helping to soundtrack the unique and personal family milestones for countless b’nei mitzvah services. Micah also composes and produces music for film scores, commercials, and releases folk music under the artist name Lookalike.

Micah & Marnina are a couple that loves to collaborate. They work together to officiate and accompany services, appear monthly at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and have both written and performed all around LA as a musical comedy duo. They look forward to ringing in 5785 with the SIJCC community!

Dave Wilder

Dave Wilder is a Grammy nominated songwriter, film and TV composer, and multi-instrumentalist who has written songs for Macy Gray, De La Soul, and Rod Stewart to name a few. You can hear Dave’s bass playing on albums by Norah Jones, Ziggy Marley, De La Soul, Empire of the Sun, and everywhere in between.

Davey Chegwidden

Davey Chegwidden is a professional percussionist, drummer, producer, and songwriter from the Philadelphia area. Since 1996, he's been based in Los Angeles, working with artists like De La Soul, Harry Styles, and the Black Eyed Peas. He has numerous credits in film, TV, and video games, including Ocean's 13, Captain Phillips, and Red Dead Redemption.

Davey also ventures into production and songwriting, contributing to Grammy-nominated projects like De La Soul's And the Anonymous Nobody and working with artists such as Aloe Blacc and Raheem DeVaughn. He's served as a musical director for De La Soul, Scion, and XBox/Microsoft.

Maggie Parkins

An uncommonly versatile musician, cellist Maggie Parkins is active as a performer and a teacher. As a member of the Eclipse Quartet, she has commissioned numerous new works for string quartet. Parkins is also a member of the Mojave Piano Trio and Brightwork new music ensemble. She has performed under the batons of Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, and Simon Rattle. Her orchestral experience includes the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Pasadena Symphony and the LA Master Chorale. Parkins is heard on the Albany, Tzadik, Bridge, and New World labels. She has performed in festivals all over Europe and North America such as Cadaques, Tacklos, Scarlatti, Victoriaville, Banff and Tanglewood. She taught cello and chamber music at UC Irvine for 19 years before joining the faculty at Pomona College in 2016. Parkins has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Doctorate from SUNY at Stony Brook.