Upcoming Jewish Music Forum Events
"Performing Chassidishkeit:
Spirituality and Identity Construction in Chabad Nigunim"
featuring Dr. Michel Klein and Dr. Ellen Koskoff
October 18, 2021
8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific
FREE program on ZOOM
Click HERE to register and receive Zoom link
In the Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidic community, the singing of religious folksongs called nigunim holds a fundamental place in one’s life. There is a well-known saying in Chabad circles that while words are the pen of the heart, music is the pen of the soul. The implication of this statement is that music is able to express thoughts and emotions in a deeper way than words ever could. Through the lens of Chabad Chasidic thought, we are able to perceive various spiritual narratives that may be expressed through nigunim and that are fundamental in understanding what is being experienced and performed through singing them. My research examines the ways in which musical syntax and spiritual parameters work together to express these various spiritual narratives found inherently in the sound and structure of Chabad nigunim. Additionally, I examine the role that “performing” such narratives through singing nigunim play in contemporary Lubavitcher identity construction both individually and communally.
With Dr. Michel Klein and response by Dr. Ellen Koskoff
With Dr. Michel Klein and response by Dr. Ellen Koskoff
April 6 & 7, 2022
EXILE: MUSIC OF THE EARLY-MODERN JEWISH DIASPORA
Two performances: Rutgers University (April 6th) and The Center for Jewish History (April 7th)
EXILE highlights Jewish music as it shifted and melded with traditions in early modern Europe. The program takes as its starting point the rich musical cultures fostered by Jews in early modern Italy and their points of contact with non-Jewish traditions. From there, it touches on the influences of Italian, German, and English music and Jewish culture, highlighting Jewish musicians, the non-Jewish composers they influenced, and composers who inspired innovations in Jewish composition. The purpose of the EXILE project is to highlight the mutual influences of the early modern European Jewish experience – to break down preconceptions of Jewish music and culture and explore the implications of diaspora on Jewish artistic legacy.
The concert will feature Incantare’s core instrumental ensemble plus four singer specialists, as well as special guests Dongmyung Ahn, violin, and Rebecca Cypess, organ and harpsichord. The program It is closely tied with the forthcoming book Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy. This book “demonstrates that musical culture was fluid and shared between Jews and non-Jews, and that this shared cultural space involved complexities of identity and meaning.” The concert will contain narration and commentary on the music by author contributors.
EXILE is proudly presented in partnership with the American Society for Jewish Music, the Jewish Music Forum, and Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Department of Music, and Department of Italian. EXILE is also supported by a Polyphonic Grant from the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Development.
EXILE: MUSIC OF THE EARLY-MODERN JEWISH DIASPORA
Two performances: Rutgers University (April 6th) and The Center for Jewish History (April 7th)
EXILE highlights Jewish music as it shifted and melded with traditions in early modern Europe. The program takes as its starting point the rich musical cultures fostered by Jews in early modern Italy and their points of contact with non-Jewish traditions. From there, it touches on the influences of Italian, German, and English music and Jewish culture, highlighting Jewish musicians, the non-Jewish composers they influenced, and composers who inspired innovations in Jewish composition. The purpose of the EXILE project is to highlight the mutual influences of the early modern European Jewish experience – to break down preconceptions of Jewish music and culture and explore the implications of diaspora on Jewish artistic legacy.
The concert will feature Incantare’s core instrumental ensemble plus four singer specialists, as well as special guests Dongmyung Ahn, violin, and Rebecca Cypess, organ and harpsichord. The program It is closely tied with the forthcoming book Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy. This book “demonstrates that musical culture was fluid and shared between Jews and non-Jews, and that this shared cultural space involved complexities of identity and meaning.” The concert will contain narration and commentary on the music by author contributors.
EXILE is proudly presented in partnership with the American Society for Jewish Music, the Jewish Music Forum, and Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Department of Music, and Department of Italian. EXILE is also supported by a Polyphonic Grant from the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Development.
The Jewish Music Forum is a project of the American Society for Jewish Music,
with the support of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
and the Center for Jewish History.
Founded in 2004, the Jewish Music Forum is now in its eighteenth season in 2021-22
All programs of the Jewish Music Forum are free and open to the public.
For more information please visit
http://www.jewishmusic-asjm.org
Copyright © 2021 by the American Society for Jewish Music
Site last updated October 15, 2021
Site last updated October 15, 2021