Beth Schafer

Beth's path started early: at 11, she picked up a guitar on the bimah to accompany a cantor in concert. That connection between music and worship never left her. She holds degrees in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Miami School of Music and moves fluidly across styles — classical, blues, folk, jazz — as a sought-after guitarist and songwriter. In 2006, she won the American Idol Underground Faith Based competition, a turning point that pushed her toward music built on values shared across faiths.

The worship experiences Beth leads, at home and on the road, have been called everything from deeply touching to incomparable. She has an instinct for the rhythm of prayer and for what a congregation needs to feel connected, to each other and to God. When she leads people in prayer, no one stays a stranger.

Her songwriting and stage presence have carried her well beyond the synagogue: she played center-court at halftime of an Orlando Magic game, and performed for then-candidate Barack Obama during his historic campaign, drawn in by her messages of hope during difficult times.

For decades, Beth built a national presence through the Union for Reform Judaism, headlining late-night sessions and playing guitar for Shabbat services at seven biennial conventions. At the 2013 URJ Biennial, she became the first woman to produce a URJ event, writing and directing "Extraordinary Women Shaping Reform Judaism" for the 100th anniversary of Women of Reform Judaism, and composing the anthem Limdu Heiteiv for the celebration.

Beth has released ten albums of original Jewish music, along with singles that include a number of social justice anthems. Her title track "Build That Bridge" (2007) was written and recorded with the late Larry Hoppen of the band Orleans. In 2018, as the country wrestled with division over race, women's issues, and immigration, she released the EP No Time for Silence, including the song "History Will Ask," which asks what we'll be able to say we did to make the world better.

In 2022, WABE (Atlanta Public Television) featured Beth in "Amplify Atlanta," a showcase of musicians shaping the city's sound.

Her most recent work, produced in her studio M'kdash Me'at studios, returns to once-fixed Hebrew texts and reimagines them for a wider, more inclusive audience. Her classical composition "M'kor HaChayim" reworks the patriarchal language of Avinu Malkeinu, and her "Am Yisrael Chai," written after October 7th, lifts up the strength of the Jewish people today.

Spanning many genres, Beth returned to her roots as a composer of contemporary instrumental music with the electronica album Liminal. She continues that work through The Beth Schafer Project, exploring the genre she loves.

Since 2015, Beth has served as the Bunzl Family Cantorial Chair at Temple Sinai in Atlanta, where she brings together liturgy and music production to create worship, classes, concerts, and programs for the city's largest Reform congregation.

Above all, Beth's greatest love is her family: her wife, Rebecca; their kids Hannah (Matthew), Sarah (Nick), and Ben; and their dogs, Chester and Henry.