September 3 - Back to Shul Shabbat at Horseshoe Lake - service begins at 6:45 PM
All are welcome to bring a picnic dinner at 6 pm
September 4 - Shabbat morning worship begins at 10 am in the Sanctuary

Cantor Kathy J. Barr joined the clergy at Temple Shalom in July, 2007.  Her worship style is one of inclusion, balancing the contemplative with joyful participation, believing that music is the language of the soul, and through music, the soul can truly receive and transmit blessing. Her philosophy is one of embracing all of Judaism, and finding that which works for the individual as well as the community. Cantor Barr works with each Bar or Bat Mitzvah candidate both individually and in class format, giving each student a grounding in the skills necessary to easily chant from the Torah scroll, and to lead their service with confidence.

Cantor Barr was ordained by The Academy for Jewish Religion, a seminary dedicated to Jewish pluralism, located in New York City and was certified by the American Conference of Cantors as a Regular Member. She received her Baccalaureate degree from New York University in Philosophy, with minors in Hebrew and Mathematics. After graduating, she plunged headlong into dual careers of singing and advertising, eventually melding the two into her own business of concert promotion and choral contracting.

Click below to listen to Cantor Barr's Adon Olam

Raised in Reform, Cantor Barr has always been involved in Social Action. As a teen she was active in Camp Shalom, a day camp sponsored by two Manhattan Upper West Side congregations that provided a fun, safe environment for inner city kids from the Lincoln Square Projects.  She also counseled runaways, finding them places to stay and facilitating a dialog between them and their parents.

A performer since the age of seven, Cantor Barr was active in regional opera and oratorio as well as in liturgical music and performed as soloist both at home and abroad, including concert tours of the Caribbean, Italy and two tours of Greece. Orchestral engagements have included the New York Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony working with such noted conductors as Zubin Mehta, Lukas Foss, Robert DeCormier, Abraham Kaplan, Matthew Lazar, Robert Shaw, and Gerard Schwarz. She has recorded for Vox Turnabout, Centaur, Sine Qua Non, Not Nice Music, Book of the Month Records, and for the Western Wind, on The Birthday of the World a set of 2 CD's of High Holy Day music.

Prior to coming to Temple Shalom, Cantor Barr served as Cantor of the Village Temple (URJ) in NYC for three years, Associate Cantor of North Shore Synagogue (URJ) in Syosset, Long Island for six years, Cantor of West End Synagogue, (Reconstructionist), and Beth Shalom, a Post-Denominational congregation, both in Manhattan. She led auxiliary services at Manhattan's Central Synagogue for eight years prior to her ordination in 1996.

Cantor Barr is married to Ed Weissman, an attorney (who also sings bass), and is the proud mother of Sara and Nora Fantry.