The David Goldwasser Series in Religion and the Arts was established in 1980 at Emory University in memory of David Goldwasser, a 1932 graduate of Emory College. The Series is intended to keep alive for generations of students Mr. Goldwasser's appreciation of art and faith as enriching dimensions of the human spirit.
The David Goldwasser Series in Religion and the Arts will focus on some aspect of the relation of religion to the performing or creative arts, such as music, sculpture, painting, dance, or architecture. As often as the resources of the endowment allow, events with significant implicit or explicit religious relationship will be presented, performed or exhibited.
The Series in administered by the Goldwasser Subcommittee, a group appointed by the Executive Director of the Emory College of Arts and Sciences Center for Creativity & Arts.
Please email creativity@emory.edu with any questions.
Contributions or program ideas should be sent to: David Goldwasser Series, Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, 1700 N. Decatur Road, Suite 314, Atlanta, GA 30322, 404-712-9894 or creativity@emory.edu.
2009 Series Events
Emory University Art Gala 2009
Friday, February 21
6:30-9:30 p.m.
Lullwater Ballroom, Emory Conference Center Hotel
Emory Tibetan Arts and Culture Program: Painting the Sacred: Reflections on Tibetan Thangkas
Monday, March 23
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Reception Hall, Michael C. Carlos Museum
Giving Voice, featuring Kirk Whalum
Monday, March 30
8:00 p.m.
Cannon Chapel
Discussion: Whale Sharks and Female Shamans
Thursday, April 2
7:00 p.m.
Reception Hall, Michael C. Carlos Museum
Discussion: Spotted and Sacred: Jaguars in Nature and Art
Tuesday, April 28
7:00 p.m.
Reception Hall, Michael C. Carlos Museum
Previous Events
February 14, 2006
Golijov Symposium and Quartet Concert
Quartet concert performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and clarinetist Todd Palmer. The symposium focus is Golijov's treatment of religious themes. A recorded interview with the composer and scholarly presentations precede group discussions, questions and answers.
January 27, 2005
"Hoschanah Rabbah in Casale Monferrato 1732" (Hebrew cantata)
Performed by the Emory Early Music Ensemble, Jody Miller, conductor, Matthew Peaceman, guest conductor
The German baroque oboist Matthew Peaceman directs a performance of his recently reconstructed version of the Hebrew cantata "Hoschanah Rabbah in Casale Monferrato 1732" as a centerpiece of this concert of baroque music.
March 29-30, 2003
"The Redemptive Power of Art," symposium in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts
Anne Bogart, co-founder of the Saratoga International Theater Institute
Bill T. Jones, co-founder of New York 's Bill T. Jones/Arne Zane Dance Company
Pauline Oliveros, founder of the "Deep Listening" technique.
March 18-19, 1999
"The Revolutionary Nature of Richard Wagner's Music," class
"The Twilight of the Wagners: The Unveiling of a Family Legacy"
Gottfried Wagner
February 23-25, 1998
Lectures on "Nasty Girl" and "My Mother's Courage"
Michael Verhoeven
April 13, 1997
Poetry reading
Yevgheny Yevtushenko
A reading by the author
April 13, 1997
"Karpilevsky — Or, What is to be Done with Him?"
Reading by the author, Jacob Weitzner, and Yevgheny Yevtushenko
October 22, 1994
"Music and Human Spirituality"
Dr. Karl Haas
March 18, 1992
"God's Gon' Trouble the Waters"
Bernice Johnson Reagon
A lecture and performance
March 30-31, 1992
"The Role of Spain in the Cultural History of European Jews"
"The Origins of Biblical Narrative in Manuscript Illumination"
Two illustrated lectures by Gabrielle Séd
April 17, 1991
"Spiritual Aspirations in the Music of Leonard Bernstein"
John Rockwell, New York Times
An illustrated lecture
Discussion on music criticism
April 22, 1990
"Poetry and Performance in Classical Hindu Culture"
Indira Peterson, two accompanists
A lecture and performance
March 1989
E. Wiesel, "The Trial of God"
Starving Artists Workshop
March 30, 1988
"The Music of Terezin"
Karas String Quartet
A lecture and performance
February 17, 1986
"Music and Prayer in Jewish Liturgy"
A lecture and recital by Nico Castel
Response by David Blumenthal
April 11, 1985
"Marc Chagall: Is There Faith in His Art?"
An illustrated lecture by Catherine Evans
Film screening, The Colours of Passion
May 1, 1984
"Art of the Holocaust"
A lecture by Sybil Milton
November 15, 1981
Sir Michael Tippet's A Child of Our Time
A lecture by Sir Michael Tippet
Assisted by Meiron Bowen and Wendel Whalum
November 23, 1980
Ernst Bloch's Avodat Hakodesh (Sacred Service)
Performed by the Collegium Musicum and Emory Symphony Orchestra
A lecture by Suzanne Bloch: "The Meaning of the Sacred Service to My Father"


