Club member Barry award honorary degree as 'worldwide ambassador of music'

National Press Club member Jerome Barry received a Doctor of Music degree, honoris causa, from The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York on June 6th.

In its tribute to him, Seminary officials wrote:

Fluent in 8 languages and able to sing in 28, you have been a worldwide ambassador of music. The international breadth of your career has roots in your co-founding of the Washington Music ensemble in 1981. With expansive vision, you built on the ensemble’s success in the diplomacy-rich Beltway region to establish the Embassy Series in 1994. You remain the series’ director today, and have worked with 62 embassies in the Washington, D.C. area to arrange musical performance that underscore the cultural heritages they represent. You have toured for the U.S. State Department, sung 300 concerts in Israel, recorded Jewish and non-Jewish music in seven countries, and been lauded with the Distinguished Washingtonian Award. You were granted a gold medal for distinguished service from the president of Austria. Former Hazzan of a congregation in Silver Spring, Maryland, you also officiated at High Holy Day services in Beverly Hills. Since 1990, you have embraced a healing role as senior associate at The George Washington University Medical Center’s Voice Treatment Center.

Through music, you have blazed an innovative path of 'tikkun olam' (repairing the world).