With the 2025 spring semester in full swing, we are delighted to highlight our talented and dedicated community members.
Today we are thrilled to spotlight AJRCA alumnus, Cantor Phil Baron.
“AJRCA has been a guiding force for me in my cantorial career as well as in my spiritual life. It’s a unique institution that has given me so much!”
Cantor Phil Baron
“Piglet becomes a cantor!” That could be the headline for Cantor Phil Baron, the first male graduate of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California. Cantor Baron grew up in a musical family, and sang in the Cleveland Heights Choir and a rock band, and served as a junior cantor at his family’s synagogue. (AJRCA has a strong connection with cantors from Cleveland – Perryne Anker, former Cantorial Dean and Don Gurney, longtime AJRCA faculty member hail from Cleveland. Could it be something in the water?!)
Cantor Baron self-produced an album in 1980. He sent the video to Disney and then was hired by the company to write children’s music and scripts. This began an eighteen–year career at Disney writing nearly 200 songs for the company. Since he could sing as well as write music, he was asked to do the voice acting for Piglet and Teddy Ruxpin. For the next several years he worked on hundreds of television episodes for Disney and other children’s networks.
Cantor Baron’s journey to cantorial school at AJRCA, as well as leading Valley Beth Shalom, was part of a larger journey to Judaism; a connection that formed over time and deepened with experience. After his father passed away when he was 27, he began attending daily services at his synagogue to say Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer. This practice reintroduced him to Jewish values, and to their underlying spiritual meaning.
While working on children’s series, such as Bubbe’s Boarding House and Aleph Bet Blast-Off series, Cantor Baron happen to meet Ed Feinstein, senior rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom. After leaving the world of entertainment in 2001 he enrolled in The Academy for Jewish Religion, California cantorial school and joined Congregation Beth Shalom in Santa Clarita as its cantor. After his ordination, Cantor Baron joined the clergy staff at Valley Beth Shalom, where he also directs Efshar, its spiritual center. Joining VBS was a full circle moment, combining his search for spirituality, music, and neo-Chassidism. His love of music has become a channel for his meditation and his personal journey in Judaism.
Written by Susan Casamassima