PAUL KNOPF

KNOPF--Paul, born February 3, 1927, died July 6, 2023 due to compli- cations from cancer. He is survived by his wife, Clare Johnson, his son from a previous marriage, Siegfried Knopf and his wife Nancy Needell, and Paul's grandson Julian Knopf. Paul was a composer and pianist, active in the New York City music scene for over 70 years. He studied composition under Josef Schmid, who was a composer, conductor, composition teacher, and one of the first pupils of Alban Berg. Paul also studied composition under Bohuslav Martinu. After graduating high school in the Bronx, he attended Julliard in the early 1940s, before being drafted into the Army during WWII, where he served as a military writer for Stars and Stripes. Paul, aka The Outcat, loved composing jazz. He performed actively in New York and recorded his jazz compositions with well-known jazz artists such as Walter Perkins, Richard Davis, Joe Cocuzzo, and Lisle Atkinson, among others. For over 50 years, he was an active church musician, composing widely-performed jazz liturgies, frequently featuring vocalist Sheila Jordan. Judson Memorial Church, Washington Square Methodist Church, Church of the Village, and St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City were steady venues for his liturgical jazz compositions. Paul was passionate about peace and social justice. He was arrested and jailed for being part of a group that stopped the Armed Forces Day Parade, to protest the Vietnam War. He was active in causes promoting social justice and attended many protest marches in Washington throughout the years. Lately, he carried with him in his brief case, a volume of Shakespeare's Sonnets and Aristotle's Poetics. He had an inquiring mind and was an avid reader. He is sorely missed by his immediate family and his many friends.