RSVP for Faithful and Not-So Faithful: Some Favorite Jewish Composers and Songwriters

media release: 

Tuesday, July 2

Dan Barker: “Faithful and Not-So Faithful: Some Favorite Jewish Composers and Songwriters” 

Many famous Jewish composers and songwriters were secular, not believing, but most showing some caring and appreciation of their Jewish heritage and community. Some were atheists and agnostics. But a few were not. Harold Arlen, son of a Cantor, never claimed to be a nonbeliever, though he did marry a Catholic. We don’t know if Dorothy Fields was a believing Jew, but in the absence of any statements from her, we might assume she was, at least nominally. And we do know some Jews who, like Aaron Copland, had no interest or little knowledge of the faith — Leonard Bernstein called him a “fake Jew.” 

Dan Barker is a talented pianist and composer who never fails to impress us with his musical stylings as well as the breadth of his knowledge about popular American composers. Dan Barker graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Religion and was ordained as an evangelist minister at the age of fifteen. He became a “freethinker” in 1983 and is now the co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. 

Lunch: Caesar salad, assorted artisan rolls & mini muffins, Broiled tilapia with caper picatta sauce or Goat cheese and spinach strudel, barley pilaf and steamed carrots. Dessert: Door County cherry pie a la mode