Dr. Cantor Charles Stuart Davidson

Charles Davidson (1929 - 2023) was a highly revered composer known for his
numerous commissions by synagogues, Jewish organizations, cantors, and secular
choruses throughout the United States. One of the earliest graduates of the Jewish
Theological Seminary's Cantors Institute (now the H. L. Miller Cantorial School), he later
earned his doctorate in sacred music there. He served on the faculty since 1977 as the
Nathan Cummings Professor. His education also includes a degree from the University
of Pittsburgh and studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under
Howard Hanson.

In his early career, Davidson became music director and conductor for several
organizations, including the International Zionist Federation Association Orchestra at
the University of Pittsburgh, the Hadassah Choral Society, and the Pittsburgh
Contemporary Dance Association. Before his studies at the seminary, he attended the
Brandeis Arts Institute in Santa Susana, California. This unique program, led by
conductor and composer Max Helfman, fused the talents of established Jewish artists
with college students, fostering an innovative space for contemporary Jewish artistic
expression and providing a rich and exciting forum for Jewish arts. Davidson, alongside
other future eminent composers like Yehudi Wyner and Jack Gottlieb, learned under the
guidance of acclaimed resident artists such as Julius Chajes, Mario Castelnuovo-
Tedesco, Erich Zeisl, and Heinrich Schalit.

Davidson'smost renowned composition, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly", is a poignant
musical setting of children's poetry from the Terezin concentration camp in
Czechoslovakia. This piece, marked by its tragic history of only 100 survivors out of the
15,000 children imprisoned, has received worldwide acclaim with over 4,500
performances. It has been featured on numerous commercial recordings and is the
subject of two award-winning PBS documentaries: "The Journey of Butterfly" and
"Butterfly Revisited." In 1991, a special performance occurred in Terezin to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the camp's creation. This event, attended by
Holocaust survivors and presided over by Václav Havel, the new president of the Czech
Republic, was followed by performances at Smetana Hall in Prague and the Jesuit
Church in Brno.

Davidson was a prolific composer and arranger who began his journey in composing
while singing in a high school chorus in Pittsburgh. His compositions are works of integrity,
his hallmark, modesty. When asked recently to explain how he gets his inspiration to compose,
he mentioned the texts of the songs he receives from collaborators. “Just give me the text,” he
intoned. And when responding to how he has managed to compose such an extraordinary
volume of music over the years, he points to a clock. “When I was on vacation during the
summer, I used to get up very early, at 4 a.m., and work until 8 a.m. Your mind is fresh in the
morning, easier to think,” he said. He owned and is published by Ashbourne Music
Publishing, and his catalog boasts over 300 works. These include synagogue pieces,
songs, choral cantatas, Psalm settings, entire services, musical plays, theatrical
children's presentations, instrumental pieces, and even a one-act opera based on Isaac
Bashevis Singer's story "Gimpel the Fool." His work also includes secular and non-
Jewish holiday choral settings commonly performed by high school and college choirs.

In addition to his composing, Davidson edited "Gates of Song," a collection of
congregational melodies and hymns. He authored "From Szatmar to the New World:
Max Wohlberg—American Cantor" and the instructional cantorial series "Immunim
B'nusach Hat'fillah". He served as Hazzan of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins
Park, Pennsylvania, from 1966 to 2004, where he taught numerous children to sing and
significantly influenced many families' lives.

Cantor Davidson, of Elkins Park, formerly of Pittsburgh, PA passed away on November 24,2023.
 He was the devoted husband of the late Frances Davidson (nee Smolover);
loving father of Miriam Davidson (Kim Singleton),Michael Davidson, Alyssa Davidson Arms (David Arms),
 and Ilana Davidson (Greg Cooper) and cherished grandfather of Kaitlyn Arms.  
Service and Interment are private. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Charles's memory may be made to
Charles Davidson Fund https://bit.ly/Charles_Davidson_Fund
His family and friends are planning a celebration of his life for the upcoming spring.