The Jewish Music Forum
Complete Listing of Past Sessions (2005-06 to 2022-23)
Complete Listing of Past Sessions (2005-06 to 2022-23)
All Jewish Music Forum programs are free and open to the public
NINETEENTH SEASON 2022-2023
January 26, 2023
City of Song: Music and the Making of Modern Jerusalem Book Talk
Dr. Michael Figueroa (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
February 1, 2023
“Kol mekadesh shevi'i: Resounding Synagogue and Home in Ashkenaz"
Program featuring Dr. Naomi Cohn Zentner (Bar Ilan University) with a response by Prof. Eliyahu Schleifer
February 9, 2023
Kurt Weill’s America Book Talk
Dr. Naomi Graber (Associate Professor at the University of Georgia) with a response by Dr. Kim Kowalke
February 23, 2023
More Forbidden Music
Musicians from Vienna’s ExilArte and Mannes School of Music
Music by Julius Bürger, Hals Gál, Andre Singer, Gustav Lewi, Walter Arlen, Vally Weigl and Erich Wolfgang Korngold
March 13, 2023
Refuge: Art Songs by Jewish American Refugee Composers CD Launch
Joyce Rosenzweig and David Berger
Music by Rappaport, Kingsley, Alter, Schalit, Piket, Weiner, Janowski and Berlin
March 14, 2023
“American Jewish Women and New York Opera Culture”
Program featuring Dr. Samantha M. Cooper (Harvard University) with a Response by Judith Pinnolis (Berklee College of Music)
Sponsored by Carnegie Hall’s Women in Music Series and the YIVO Institute of Jewish Research
March 30, 2023
Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from the Nazi death camps.
A concert of Bulgarian and American music.
April 20, 2023
Innovators in Exile: The Centenary of the International Chamber Music Performances In Salzburg, Austria
Music by Hindemith, Wellesz, Grosz, Kauder, Pisk, Weigl, Lustgarten and Reti
In conjunction with Elysium – between two continents and The Leo Baeck Institute
May 2, 2023
“Dance, Movement, and Jewish Modernity”
A Panel featuring Dr. Hannah Schwadron, Dr. Sonia Gollance,
Dr. Rosa Abrahams, Dr. Rebecca Rossen, and Meirav Ong
EIGHTEENTH SEASON 2021-2022
October 18, 2021
“Performing Chassidishkeit: Spirituality and Identity in Chabad Nigunim”
A lecture featuring Dr. Michel Klein and Dr. Ellen Koskoff
November 10, 2021
“Jewishness, Jewish Identity, and Music Culture in 19th Century Europe”
A roundtable discussion of the new edited collection Jewishness, Jewish identity and Music Culture in 19th Century Europe with panelists Luca Lévi Sala (editor), Marsha Dubrow, Cesar Leal, Mark Kligman, Steven Cahn, and David Hurwitz.
November 18, 2021
“Music, Theatre, and the Jewish Immigrant Story”
A panel featuring Dr. Dorothy Glick Maglione (William Jewell College), Dr. Peter Graff (Denison University), and Dr. John Koegel (California State University, Fullerton).
February 7, 2022
“Performing the Homeland: Contesting the Boundaries of Moroccan Jewish Identity”
A lecture by Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas (City University of New York, ALEPH, and Academy of Jewish Religion Cantorial Program)
March 21, 2022
“Laughing at Hitler: Soviet Yiddish Music and Humor during World War II”
A lecture-concert with narration by Dr. Anna Shternshis, and a vocal and piano performance by singer, songwriter, and scholar Psoy Korolenko
April 7, 2022
“EXILE: Music of the Early-Modern Jewish Diaspora”
A live performance featuring Incantare’s instrumental core ensemble, with special guests Dongmyung Ahn, violin, and Rebecca Cypess, organ and harpsichord, and in collaboration with The Center for Jewish History, The American Society for Jewish Music, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers University Department of Music, Rutgers University Department of Italian, The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Development, and Dillon Music
April 27, 2022
“Forbidden Music: Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis: Suppressed Musical Treasures of the Twentieth Century”
A live performance featuring Ulrike Anton, flute, the Selini Quartet, and Students from the Mannes School of Music at the New School in collaboration with Exilarte: Center for Banned Music of the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien, the Leo Baeck Institute, YIVO, and The Center for Jewish History
SEVENTEENTH SEASON 2020-2021
November 1, 8, 15, & 22, 2020
"Psalmody through the Ages: Music and the Book of Psalms"
A Four-Part Digital Scholarly Conference
SESSION I: November 1, 2020: Psalms in/as Performance
"On the Musical Performance of Psalms and its Implications for Identifying Psalms as a Liturgical Category in the Ashkenazi Synagogue"
Dr. Boaz Tarsi, Jewish Theological Seminary
"Connections and Contextualizations: Psalms in Samogohiri”
Dr. Cari Friesen, Independent Scholar
Respondent: Dr. Christine Dang, New York University
Chair: Dr. AJ Berkovitz, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
SESSION II: November 8: Negotiating Psalmscapes
"Hashamayim M'sap'rim K'vod Eil:" The Music of the Heavenly Spheres as Described in Psalm 19"
Cantor Sarah Grabiner, Radlett Reform Synagogue, United Kingdom
"The Psalm Settings of Salomon Jadassohn for Leipzig: A Study in Harmonic Practice"
Dr. Steven J. Cahn, University of Cincinnati
Respondent: Dr. Samantha Zerin, Independent Scholar
Chair: Ms. Samantha Cooper, New York University
SESSION III: November 15: Psalms and Social Experience
"Communal Grief in the Anthems of William Billings"
Mx. Raz Reuel Taylor, University of Memphis
"A Comparison of the Effects of Notational Systems on the Respective Psalm Chants of Sephardi Jewish Communities"
Mr. Isaac Treuherz, SOAS University of London
Respondent: Dr. Neely Bruce, Yale University
Chair: Dr. Rachel Adelstein, Independent Scholar
SESSION IV: November 22: Keynote
“Singing a Song of Zion: On Psalms as a Currency of Exile, Redemption, and Jewish National Consciousness"
Dr. Yael Sela, Open University of Israel
February 18, 2021
"Strategies of Holocaust Survival in German Jewish Music"
Dr. Karen Painter, “Mourning after Kirstalnacht,” University of Minnesota
Dr. Abby Anderton, “Performing Testimony in Postwar Germany: Music, Sound, and Survival,” Baruch College
Dr. Hernan Tesler-Mabé, “Heinz Unger and Holocaust Survival,” University of Ottawa
March 2, 2021
"From Social Distance to Spiritual Connection: A Passover Conversation"
Merri Lovinger Arian, Jonathan Comisar, Gordon Dale, Joyce Rosenzweig, Azi Schwartz (Hebrew Union College)
[Conversations on Zoom]
March 11, 2021
"Gifts of Song: Women Cantors and Musical Creativity"
Dr. Rachel Adelstein, Independent Scholar
Respondent: Cantor Benjie Schiller, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
April 13, 2021
"Transcendent Melodies: Exploring the Music and Cultural Context of Ishay Ribo"
Dr. Gordon Dale, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
May 5, 2021
"A Tradition of Talent: Jewish Opera Singers and the Patterns that Shaped Their Careers"
Ms. Samantha M. Cooper, New York University
June 2, 2021
"“To Bigotry No Sanction” An Oratorio Based on George Washington’s Letter to the Jews of Newport"
Cantor Jonathan Comisar, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
July 6, 2021
"Jewish Immigrant Encounters with Music and Theatre in the United States"
Ms. Samantha M Cooper (New York University) with Dr. Peter Graff (Denison University), and Dr. Dorothy Glick Maglione (William Jewell College)
SIXTEENTH SEASON 2019-2020
September 23, 2019, 7:00 PM
"Anneliese Landau’s Life in Music: From Nazi Germany to Émigré California"
Kovno/Shavel Room
Center for Jewish History
November 19, 2019
"Between Tradition and Transformation: Shabbat Musical Practice in the Jewish Community of Istanbul"
Dr. Joseph Alpar
12pm
Columbia University, 617 Kent Hall (near corner of Amsterdam and 116th St.)
Nov. 20, 2019, 12PM
November 20, 2019
"Laughter through Tears: Reconstructing the Lost Jewish Art of Badkhones"
Joshua Horowitz, musician and independent scholar (Berkeley, CA)
12pm
James Loeffler, Corcoran Dept. of History
Joel Rubin, McIntire Dept. of Music
Univ. of Virginia
March 1, 2019
"About a 17th Century Purim Opera: A Lecture/Demonstration with the Cast of Ester, Liberatrice del Popolo Ebreo by Allesandro Stradella"
Sponsored by the Jewish Music Forum, a project of The American Society for Jewish Music and The American Jewish Historical Society
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
"Letters to Erich: Family Separation and Holocaust Memory"
A Musical Performance and Talk featuring Jazz Pianist Ted Rosenthal
7:30pm
Nicholas Music Center, Rutgers University
FIFTEENTH SEASON 2018-2019
November 18, 2018 at 6:30 PM
"Soundscapes of Modernity: Jews and Music in Polish Cities"
Music of Polish Jews that is little known to American audiences —
choral pieces from 19th-century progressive (“Reform”) congregations,
compositions associated with Jewish music societies,
and avant-garde works by Jewish composers.
Dr. Halina Goldberg, Indiana University (Bloomington)
Rutgers University Choir, Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Center for Jewish History
Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 7:00 PM
"Samuel Adler: Building Bridges With Music"
Concert and Discussion
The prolific composer and educator Samuel Adler, born the son of a cantor in 1928 in Mannheim, Germany, reflects on a life in music in an intimate interview and performance of his chamber works.
Co sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute.Center for Jewish History
February 20, 2019 at 7:30 PM
"Religious Contempt in the Music of Bach"
Lecture by Dr. Michael Marissen (Swarthmore College)
(Cancelled due to snow; will be re-scheduled)
Shindell Choral Hall, Rutgers University
85 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ
Co-sponsored with Rutgers University
Apirl 10, 2019 at 6:30 PM
"The Scholar Activist: Opportunities, Challenges, and Frameworks for Pursuing Social Justice"
The Graduate Center, CUNY - Room 9204/05
365 Fifth Avenue, NYC
Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Summit (Research Professor, Tufts University)
Hannah Greene (Ph.D. Candidate, NYU)
Elaine Sandoval (Ph.D. Candidate, CUNY GC)
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Music
of The Graduate Center, CUNY
May 7, 2019 at 7:30 PM
"Jewish Religious Music in Nineteenth-Century America: Restoring the Synagogue Soundtrack"
Dr. Judah M. Cohen
Indiana University (Bloomington)
May 7, 2019 at 7:30 PM
Kovno/Shavel Room
Center for Jewish History
Jews constructed a robust religious musical conversation in the United States during the mid- to late-19th century.
While previous studies of American Jewish music history have looked to Europe as a source of innovation during this time,
Cohen’s careful analysis of primary archival sources tells a different story. Far from seeing a fallow musical landscape,
He finds that Central European Jews in the United States spearheaded a major revision of the sounds and traditions of synagogue music during this period of rapid liturgical change.
FOURTEENTH SEASON 2017-2018
October 3, 2017
"Henech Kon: Beyond the Dybbuk"
Lecture by Dr. Diana Matut, Martin-Luther Universität, Halle- Wittenberg, Germany, with a live performance of Kon's works by Re'ut Ben-Ze'ev (soprano) and Zalmen Mlotek (piano).
Center for Jewish History
Co-sponsored by YIVO and the American Jewish Historical Society
October 24, 2017
"The Music of Indecent"
With the Broadway Hit's composers, Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva, and Theatre scholar, Dr. David Savran
Chapel, Hebrew Union College-JIR
Co-sponsored by the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, Hebrew Union College-JIR
November 30, 2017
"Gustav Mahler: Jewish Identity and Nineteenth-Century Music Culture"
Lecture and Concert
Lecture by Dr. Daniel Jütte, New York University, followed by a performance in which Cantata Profana performs Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied Von Der Erde," as well as works by other composers in order to place it in the context of its German and Jewish milieu.
Center for Jewish History
February 7, 2018
"Jewish Baroque"
Lecture and Concert
Lecture/Performance featuring Dr. Michael Beckerman (New York University)
and Harpsichordist Dr. Simona Frenkel (Hebrew Union College) and friends.
Center for Jewish History
March 8, 2018
"Jewish, Music and Modernity in Buenos Aires"
Dr. Lillian M. Wohl, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles
Streamed Live from UCLA in conjunction with the Lowell Milken Fund for Jewish Music
April 29, 2018
Jewish Music and Humor
All-day Conference
Session I
“Welcoming Remarks: How do Jews Sound Funny?”
Dr. Gordon Dale, Hebrew Union College-JIR
“Humoring the Stereotype into a Liminal Space: Lipa Schmelzer’s “Gelt’”
Lecture and Interview: Dr. Tina Frühauf, Graduate Center CUNY with Lipa Schmelzer
“Sephardic Songs: The Lighter Side”
Dr. Judith Cohen, York University, Ontario, Canada
Session II
Music and Humor Where None Should Be: The Holocaust
Papers and Discussion by Panel: Dr. Aviva Atlani, Western University, London, Ontario; Dr. Michael Beckerman, New York University; Samantha Cooper, Ph.D. Candidate in Historical Musicology, New York University; Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University, Emeritus; Dr. Bret Werb, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Session III
Keynote Address: “Scoring Jewish Comedy: The (Very) Early Years”
Dr. Daniel Goldmark, Case Western Reserve University
Session IV – Jewish Comedians and Music in America
“Did Someone Call Me Schnorrer?: On the Marx Brothers’ Jewish Musical Humor”
Oliva Cacchione, Ph.D. Candidate in Musicology, Northwestern University
“Mickey Katz: A New Jewish Comedic Musical Frontier”
Dr. Mark Kiigman, Mickey Katz Chair in Jewish Music, UCLA
“The Jewish Music of Allan Sherman: The Broadway Parodies”
Dr. Ira Epstein, CUNY Graduate Center, Emeritus
Center for Jewish History
May 29, 2018
"Hasidic Popular Music"
Dr. Jessica Roda, University of Montreal
Held in Toronto as part of Jewish Music Week
THIRTEENTH SEASON, 2016-2017
November 28, 2016
"Israel in Three Anthems" (“Ha-Tikva,” “L’Internationale,” and “Yerushalayimshel Zahav”)
Michael A. Figueroa, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Discussant: Brigid Cohen, New York University
Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
"Jews, Music, and Postwar German Culture"
A Book Talk and Conversation in conjunction with The Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation and the Leo Baeck Institute
Dr. Tina Frühauf (RILM, CUNY Graduate Center)
Discussants: Dr. Mark Slobin, Winslow Kaplan Professor of Music, Wesleyan University and Dr. William H. Weitzer, Executive Director of the Leo Baeck Institute
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue, Skylight Conference Room 910
December 14, 2016
"Klezmer: Music, History & Memory"
Walter Zev Feldman, New York University, Abu Dhabi
Discussants: Dr. James Loeffler, University of Virginia
Glenn Dynner, Professor of Religion, Sarah Lawrence College.
Center for Jewish History
Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society, YIVO, the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center, and the An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture at the Center for Traditional Music and Dance
February 13, 2017
"Singing God's Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism"
Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Ph.D., Research Professor in the Department of Music and in the Judaic Studies program at Tufts University
Discussants: Dr. Mark Slobin, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Emeritus at Wesleyan University
Cantor Richard Cohn, Director, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music,
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History
March 23, 2017
“'Your New House': Wedding Songs, Gender, and Memory in an Indian Jewish Community"
Dr. Anna Schultz, Associate Professor of Music, Stanford University
Respondents: Dr. Jane C. Sugarman, Professor of Music, Graduate Center, CUNY
Dr. Eben Graves is a Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Music at Columbia University.
This program is co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
April 24, 2017
“'When We Remembered Zion: The New Budapest Orpheum Society Commemorates Yom HaShoah"
Pre-concert talk by Dr. Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History, University of Chicago
Performance by The New Budapest Orpheum Society, 2016 Grammy nominee for Best Classical Compendium: Julia Bentley (mezzo soprano), Philip V. Bohlman (artistic director), Stewart Figa (baritone), Danny Howard (percussion), Iordanka Kissiova (violin), Ilya Levinson (music director and piano), Mark Sonksen (double bass), and Don Stille (accordion).
This program is co-sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and the American Jewish Historical Society.
Center for Jewish History
May 11, 2017
“Songs of the Nation”: Maskilic Readings of Psalms after Moses Mendelssohn
A talk by Dr. Yael Sela Teichler, Open University of Israel, with Dr. Michah Gottlieb (discussant), New York University
Co-sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute and the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
TWELFTH SEASON, 2015–2016
April 4, 2016 at 7pm.
"Pavel Haas' 'Al S'fod' and Defiance – Performance as Ouija Board"
A Talk with Featured Singers: Cantor Joshua Breitzer, Kenneth Feibush, David Malecki, and Jay O'Brien
Dr. Michael Beckerman, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music at New York University
New York University
24 Waverly Place, Room 220
April 18, 2016
"New Sounds of Old Judeo-Spanish Songs"
A Talk and Roundtable Discussion
Dr. Edwin Seroussi, Emanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre
Discussants: Joel Bresler (www.sephardicmusic.org) and Dr. Stephen Blum, CUNY Graduate Center
Center for Jewish History
May 19, 2016
"New Directions in Jewish Music"
A Talk and Performance
Dr. Tamar Barzel, Visiting Curator, Fales Library-Downtown Collection, New York University and a live performance by Grammy-nominated composer and pianist, Uri Caine
Center for Jewish History
June 19, 2016
"Jews and Popular Music in the Americas"
Presentation and concert by Dr. Amalia Ran, Dr. Moshe Morad, and Dr. Nili Belkind. Featuring live music by Dr. Ben Lapidus and his band and Roberto Juan Rodríguez and his band.
Center for Jewish History
A book talk and performance in coordination with the American Jewish Historical Society's Biennial Scholars Conference, in recognition of the publication of Mazal Tov Amigos: Jews and Popular Music in the Americas (Brill, 2016).
ELEVENTH SEASON, 2014–2015
September 9, 2014
A Conversation with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot – “Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul,“ a new Sony CD.
With Hankus Netsky, arranger/producer.
Moderated by Dr. Arbie Orenstein, co-editor of Musica Judaica.
Monday, March 2, 2015
"Greeted with Smiles: Bukharian Jewish Music and Musicians in New York" (Oxford University Press)
Book Talk
Dr. Evan Rapport (The New School)
Performance by Ezro Malakov Maqom Ensemble
Center for Jewish History
April 26, 2015
"That Old Jewish Magic? Harold Arlen and American Popular Song”
Conversation with Dr. Walter Frisch (Columbia University) and Dr. Jonathan Karp (Binghamton University, SUNY)
Center for Jewish History
May 19, 2015
"Sara Levy's World: Music, Gender, and Judaism in Enlightenment Berlin"
Concert and Conversation
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff (Rutgers University), Dr. Christoph Wolff (Harvard University), Dr. Rebecca Cypess (Rutgers University), and the musicians of Sara Levy's Salon
In Sara Levy’s Salon: Rebecca Cypess, harpsichord and fortepiano; Christoph Wolff, moderator; Dongmyung Ahn, viola; Christine Gummere, cello; Benjamin Shute, violin; Frederick Urrey, tenor; Yi-heng Yang, fortepiano; Steven Zohn, traverso
Center for Jewish History
TENTH SEASON, 2013–2014
July 31, 2013
"Composer, Cellist and Researcher Joachim-Yehoyachin Stutschewsky (1891–1982):
The Role of Jewish Music in Building a Nation"
Dr. Racheli Galay, Jewish Music Research Centre, Presenter and cellist
Dr. Karin Wagner, University of Music and performing Arts Vienna, Pianist
Held at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem as part of the
Sixteenth World Center for Jewish Studies Conference
October 31, 2014
“Individual Voices and the Study of Jewish Cantillation”
Dr. Yonatan Malin,
Co-sponsored by the Department of Music, Columbia University
Held at Columbia University
November 20, 2013
“There is No Such Thing as Holocaust Music: A View from the East”
Dr. James Loeffler, University of Virginia, Charlottsville
Respondent: Dr. Michael Beckerman, New York University
Held at the Music Department of NYU
January 26, 2014
“America’s Enduring Cantorate”
Lecture with Musical Examples
The roles of cantors, and the music they sing, have developed from European heritage and responded to changing aesthetic needs across centuries.
Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-JIR and Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Cantors Jack Mendelsohn and Barbara Ostfeld-Horowitz
Center for Jewish History
March 24, 2014
"Mixing Music in Istanbul: Turkish Jews and Their Sacred Songs"
Lecture with Live Musical Examples
Dr. Maureen Jackson, University of Washington, and Dr. Münir Beken, UCLA
Center for Jewish History
April 8, 2014
“Hebrewizing Jewish Music?: Disarticulating Zionism in Early Israeli Art Music”
Dr. Assaf Shelleg, Shusterman Scholar, Yale University
Co-sponsored by Yale Institute of Sacred Music; the Judaic Studies Program at Yale; the Modern Hebrew Studies Program at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale; the Council on Middle East Studies at the MacMillan Center; and the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.
Held at Luce Hall, Yale University
NINTH SEASON, 2012-13
October 29, 2012
"A Prayer for Modernity: Cantor Abraham Baer (1834-1894) and the Jewish Reform Movement"
Anders Hammarlund, Associate Professor Center for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research (Live presentation cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy – Paper Published in Musica Judaica)
Hebrew Union College, Chapel
“The Enduring Case for Yiddish Music Ethnography: The Lives and Legacy of Morris Hollender, Sonia Victor, and Marty and Dave Levitt”
Dr. Hankus Netsky, New England Conservatori of Music
Center for Jewish History
“Tailoring an Operetta to Its Audience: Rumshinsky’s Di goldene kale”
Michael Ochs, Senior Lecturer on Music at Harvard University, Emeritus
Center for Jewish History
February 27, 2013
The Vision of the East and the Heritage of the West: The Making of a New Immigrant
Musical Culture in Israel
Jehoash Hirschberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Emeritus
Yale University
March 3 and 4, 2013
All-Day Conference on “Jewish Music in New Orleans”
Local Host: Dr. John H. Baron – Co-sponsored by Tulane University Jewish Studies Program
Evening Concert: Synagogue Music of Europe, America, and New Orleans
Performers: Cantorial Soloist Victoria May, Cantor Joel Colman, Cantor Jamie Marx,
with the Tulane University Choir, Leonard Raybon, Conductor
Dixon Recital Hall
Session I - From Europe to New Orleans: Jewish Music Past and Present
Rogers Memorial Chapel
European roots of American Jewish Music
Introduction: Michael Leavitt, President, American Society for Jewish Music
The Conference: Mark Kligman, Academic Chair, Jewish Music Forum
Speaker I: Brian Horowitz, Tulane University (historian) on the general European situation
Speaker 2: Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion (musicologist) on Jewish music in 19th-century Europe
Moderator: John H. Baron, Tulane University (musicologist)
Session II - American Adaptations of the European Experiences
Speaker 1: Michael Cohen, Tulane University (historian)
Speaker 2: Judah Cohen, Indiana University (ethnomusicologist) on the American adaptation of European Jewish music
Moderator: Edward P. Cohn, Rabbi Temple Sinai, New Orleans
Session III - Jews and Music in New Orleans vis-à-vis the European Roots and the General American Experiences
Speaker I: Stephen Whitfield, Brandeis University (historian): “The Jewish Experience in New Orleans”
Speaker 2: Jack Stewart (local architectural historian) on Jewish musicians in New Orleans in the jazz era “The Jewish Musical Experience in New Orleans"
Moderator: William Hess, New Orleans
EIGHTH SEASON, 2011-12
November 14, 2011
All-Day Conference on “German Jewish Aspirations in Music and Culture in 19th and 20th Century Germany”
The Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Co-Sponsored by: The American Society for Jewish Music’s Jewish Music Forum; Brandeis University’s: Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry; Center for German and European Studies; Library and Technology Services; with thanks to the Department of Music, Hebrew College; Brandeis University, Center for German and European Studies, and "Do Deutsch"
Welcome
Michael Leavitt, President, American Society of Jewish Music
Introductory Remarks
Dr. Sabine von Mering, Associate Professor of German and Women’s and Gender Studies, Brandeis University
Session I – 19th Century
“Re-voicing Tradition: Theory and Practice of German Jewish Synagogue Music”
Dr. Mark L. Kligman, Professor of Jewish Musicology, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Music Examples by singers from Hebrew College: Risa Wallach, soprano; Becky Wexler, alto; Kevin Margolius, tenor; Rick Lawrence, bass
“’Modern yet Jewish’: Searching for a Jewish Voice in Nineteenth-century Organ Music for the Synagogue”
Dr. Tina Frühauf, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University
“Die Form des Innern: The German-Jewish Musical Tradition and the Philosophical Anthropology of the Berlin School (Mendelssohn, Steinthal, Cohen)”
Dr. Michael Zank, Acting Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, Boston University
Session II - Complexity in Negotiating Contours of Jewish Music in the 20th Century
“Contextualization”
Dr. Eugene R. Sheppard, Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought, Brandeis University
“German Confrontations with Jewish Music: A Scholarly Dilemma”
Dr. Pamela Potter, Professor of Musicology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Response: Judith S. Pinnolis, Academic Outreach Librarian for Graduate Studies and Humanities, Brandeis University
Discussion Forum/ Q & A
Dr. Eugene R. Sheppard, Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought, Brandeis University
December 9, 2011
“Jewish Identities and the Quest for Purity in 20-Century Art Music”
Dr. Klara Moricz, Visiting Professor, University of Amherst
February 9, 2012
“The St. Petersburg School: The Music of Leo Zeitlin (1884-1930)” Professor Paula Eisenstein Baker
With music examples by YIVO's Sidney Krum Young Artists
SEVENTH SEASON, 2010 – 2011
November 3, 2010
"Chinese Jews: Aspects of their History and their Music"
Alexander Knapp, Joe Loss Lectureship in Jewish Music, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, Emeritus
Respondent: Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York
November 18, 2010
“Reimagining Tradition or Preserving Its Legacy: Yiddish Songs in Hasidic Communities and in Contemporary Eastern Europe"
Asya Vaisman, Visiting Research Scholar in Jewish Studies at Indiana University
Respondent: Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York
Co-sponsored by YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
February 16, 2011
“Robert Lachman's ‘Oriental Music Archive’ and Broadcasting Project in Mandatory Palestine”
Ruth Davis, University of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College
Respondent: Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
March 24th, 2011
“The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire”
James Loeffler, University of Virginia at Charlottesville
Lecture with Performance by YIVO’s Sidney Krum Young Artists
Co-sponsored the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
SIXTH SEASON, 2009 – 2010
November 8, 2009
“Pulitzer Prize-winning Composer Steve Reich Talks about his Jewish Music:" A unique interview by fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang
Steve Reich and David Lang
Center for Jewish History
December 10, 2009
Is Israeli Art Music Jewish?
Ronit Seter, Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Respondent: Dr. Klára Móricz, Amherst College
Held at and co-sponsored by Hebrew College, Boston
March 5, 2010
“Sacred and Secular Music Texts in Modern Times"
Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Co-sponsored by the Working Group on the Jewish Book at the Center for Jewish History
Center for Jewish History
March 14, 2010
"Back to the Roots: Notions of Jewish Musical Revival"
A panel discussion with Edwin Seroussi, The Hebrew University;
Benjamin Brinner, UC Berkeley; and Judah Cohen, Indiana University, curated and moderated by Francesco Spagnolo, The Magnes, and produced by Eleanor Shapiro, the Jewish Music Festival.
Co-sponsors: 25th Jewish Music Festival; The Magnes; Music Department and Jewish Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.
Held at the Berkeley-Richmond JCC, Berkeley, CA.
April 2, 2010
“’In a Land Large as an Apple Tree': Wolpe's Avant-Garde Music, Pedagogy, and Pacifist Zionism in 1930's Palestine”
Brigid Cohen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Respondent: Stephen Blum, City University of New York
Center for Jewish History
April 15, 2010
“Imaginaries of Exile and Emergence in Israeli, Jewish and Palestinian Hip-Hop”
David A. McDonald, Indiana University
Respondent: Edwin Seroussi, Jewish Music Research Center of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Held at and co-sponsored by Indiana University
FIFTH SEASON, 2008 – 2009
Note: During this season, for the first time, sessions of the Jewish Music Forum were held at sites outside of New York City, in the Northeast, in the mid-West, and on the West Coast.
November 14, 2008
“Beyond the Pale: The Russian Jewish Musical Experiment 100 Years Later”
Dr. James Loeffler, University of Virginia
Dr. Klára Móricz, Amherst College
Dr. Lyudmila Sholokhova, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Center for Jewish History
December 12, 2008
“American Jews, Music and the Memory of the Holocaust: 1945-1962”
Hasia Diner, New York University
Respondent: Cantor Bruce Ruben, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History
January 16, 2009
“Ethel Raim and the Center for Traditional Music and Dance: Three Decades of Showcasing Jewish Music”
With Ethel Raim and Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Co-sponsored by the Working Group on Jews, Media and Religion at New York University
Center for Jewish History
February 26, 2009
“The Jewish Self/The Jewish Other: Performing Identity in the ‘Majufes’"
Halina Goldberg, Indiana University
Held at and co-sponsored by the University of Chicago
April 24, 2009
"’Old Lamps for New:’ Alexander Krein and Jewish Neonationalism”
Dr. Klara Moricz, Amherst College
Respondent: Professor Alexander Rehding, Harvard University
Held at and co-sponsored by Harvard University
May 1, 2009
“The Participating Observer: Fieldwork in Jewish Settings”
Jeffrey A. Summit, Tufts University
Respondent: Henry Goldschmidt, Wesleyan University
Co-sponsored by the Working Group on Jews, Media and Religion at New York University
Center for Jewish History
FOURTH SEASON, 2007 – 2008
November 20, 2007
“Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive”
Chana Mlotek, YIVO Music Archivist
Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
with a performance by Zalmen Mlotek and Eleanor Reissa
Center for Jewish History
January 25, 2008
“Felix Mendelssohn and the Jewish Question”
Professor Jeffrey Sposato, University of Houston
Respondent: Professor Michael A. Meyer, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History
February 22, 2008
“Creating ‘New’ Jewish Sounds”
Josh Kun, University of Southern California,
Judah M. Cohen, Indiana University
Daniel Saks, member of the bands DeLeon and The LeeVees
Center for Jewish History
THIRD SEASON, 2006 – 2007
September 15, 2006
“How Do You Play the Musical Scream in Gideon Klein's Terezin Requiem?”
Michael Beckerman, New York University
Respondent: Gershon Kingsley, composer and conductor
Center for Jewish History
October 20, 2006
“Music and Memory among Crypto-Jews in Portuguese Border Villages”
Judith Cohen, York University, Toronto
Respondent: Jane Gerber, CUNY Graduate Center
Co-sponsored by the American Sephardi Federation
Center for Jewish History
November 10, 2006
“Composing Herself: Finding Miriam Gideon in Her 1958 Opera Fortunato”
Lecture, Performance and Panel Discussion
Stephanie Jensen-Moulton, CUNY Graduate Center
Panel discussion: Ellie Hisama, Columbia University,
Bruce Saylor, CUNY Graduate Center, and Cantor Charles Osborne
Center for Jewish History
December 8, 2006
“Mediterranean Israeli Music: The Politics of Aesthetics”
Amy Horowitz, Ohio State University
Respondent: Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, New York University
Co-sponsor: American Sephardi Federation
Center for Jewish History
February 16, 2007
“Sephardic Music On Record: A Century of Commercial Ladino Recordings”
Edwin Seroussi, Hebrew University, Jerusalem and Joel Bresler, discographer
Respondent: Dr. Virginia Danielson, Harvard University
Co-sponsor: American Sephardi Federation
Center for Jewish History
March 9, 2007
“The Media and the Messenger: Transforming the Cantor's Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Jeffrey Shandler, Rutgers University
Respondents: Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, New York University, and
Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Co-sponsor: Working Group on Jews/Media/Religion at the Center for Religion and Media, New York University
Center for Jewish History
April 27, 2007
“Blacks and Jews in American Popular Music: The Business of Cultural Mediation”
Jonathan Karp, SUNY Binghamton
Respondent: Jonathan Schorsch, Columbia University
Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
May 8, 2007
“Kurt Weill's Kol Nidre: Lecture with Music Performance”
Tamara Levitz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Respondent: Kim Kowalke, Eastman School of Music, Kurt Weill
Foundation.
Co-sponsors: The Weill/Lenya Institute; Milken Archive.
Center for Jewish History
SECOND SEASON, 2005-2006
September 23, 2005
“The Philadelphia Russian Sher Medley: Viewing the Immigrant Experience through a Musical Text”
Hankus Netsky, New England Conservatory of Music
Respondent: Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Center for Jewish History
November 4, 2005
“Between Church and Synagogue: The Organ in German- Jewish Culture”
Tina Frühauf,CUNY Graduate Center
Respondent: Dr. Philip Bohlman, University of Chicago
Center for Jewish History
November 18, 2005
“The Sephardic Voice in Ottoman Song: The Life and Art of Tanburi Isak Fresco (1745-1814)”
Walter Zev Feldman, Bar-Ilan University
Respondent: Karl Signell, Editor, Ethnomusicology Online
Center for Jewish History
December 2, 2005
“From Rossi to Rossini: Shifting Paradigms in Italian Jewish Musical Culture”
Francesco Spagnolo,Hebrew University/U.C.-Santa Cruz
Co-sponsored by the Centro Culturale Primo Levi as part of the
symposium “Humanism and the Rabbinic Tradition in Italy and Beyond”
Respondent: David Ruderman, University of Pennsylvania
Center for Jewish History
January 20, 2006
“The Tradition Continues on the Lower East Side: Experimental Music and the American-Jewish Imaginary in 1990s New York City”
Tamar Barzel, Wellesley College
Respondent: Jonathan Freedman, University of Michigan
Center for Jewish History
February 10, 2006
“Finding the Rhythm: Dance and Music in Jewish Studies”
Nina Spiegel, National Museum of American Jewish History
Respondent: Judah M. Cohen, New York University
Center for Jewish History
March 17, 2006
“Assimilating (Post-Modern) Jewish Music: Ambivalence in Contemporary Composition”
David Schiller, University of Georgia
Respondent: Klara Moricz, Amherst College
Center for Jewish History
March 31, 2006
“Energizing Jewish Musical Memory: Encounters with Sound and Text in Archives and Libraries”
Judith Pinnolis, Brandeis University
Respondents: Bret Werb, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Gina Genova, New York University / Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
April 28, 2006
“‘I am a Jew from eternal nowhere’: Yiddish song in the aftermath of the Holocaust”
Shirli Gilbert, University of Michigan
Respondent: Jeremy Dauber, Columbia University
Center for Jewish History
May 12, 2006
“The Migration of Memory: New Contexts for Mizrahi and Bukharian Musical Poetic Traditions in Israel and the United States”
Evan Rapport,City University of New York and Galeet Dardashti, University of Texas at Austin
Respondent: Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute, New York
Center for Jewish History
FIRST SEASON, 2004-2005
January 28, 2005 – Inaugural Lecture
“Memory and History in Jewish Music”
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music at Harvard University
Center for Jewish History
February 11, 2005
“Studying Jewish Music in Israel: Achievements, Failures and Challenges for the Future”
Edwin Seroussi, Emanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Respondent: Stephen Blum, City University of New York
Center for Jewish History
March 11, 2005
“Who Will Reclaim the Golden Sounds?: Judaism, Tradition, and Music Scholarship in an American Context”
Judah M. Cohen, New York University
Respondent: Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Center for Jewish History
April 8, 2005
“Beyond Yiddishland: New Studies from the Jewish Musical Mediterranean”
Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Respondent: Professor Uri Sharvit, Bar-Ilan University
Center for Jewish History
May 13, 2005
“Between Wissenschaft and Etnografiia: The Search for a Jewish Musical Science in Eurasia, Past and Present”
James Loeffler, Columbia University
Respondent: Dr. Lyudmila Sholokhova, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Center for Jewish History
NINETEENTH SEASON 2022-2023
January 26, 2023
City of Song: Music and the Making of Modern Jerusalem Book Talk
Dr. Michael Figueroa (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
February 1, 2023
“Kol mekadesh shevi'i: Resounding Synagogue and Home in Ashkenaz"
Program featuring Dr. Naomi Cohn Zentner (Bar Ilan University) with a response by Prof. Eliyahu Schleifer
February 9, 2023
Kurt Weill’s America Book Talk
Dr. Naomi Graber (Associate Professor at the University of Georgia) with a response by Dr. Kim Kowalke
February 23, 2023
More Forbidden Music
Musicians from Vienna’s ExilArte and Mannes School of Music
Music by Julius Bürger, Hals Gál, Andre Singer, Gustav Lewi, Walter Arlen, Vally Weigl and Erich Wolfgang Korngold
March 13, 2023
Refuge: Art Songs by Jewish American Refugee Composers CD Launch
Joyce Rosenzweig and David Berger
Music by Rappaport, Kingsley, Alter, Schalit, Piket, Weiner, Janowski and Berlin
March 14, 2023
“American Jewish Women and New York Opera Culture”
Program featuring Dr. Samantha M. Cooper (Harvard University) with a Response by Judith Pinnolis (Berklee College of Music)
Sponsored by Carnegie Hall’s Women in Music Series and the YIVO Institute of Jewish Research
March 30, 2023
Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from the Nazi death camps.
A concert of Bulgarian and American music.
April 20, 2023
Innovators in Exile: The Centenary of the International Chamber Music Performances In Salzburg, Austria
Music by Hindemith, Wellesz, Grosz, Kauder, Pisk, Weigl, Lustgarten and Reti
In conjunction with Elysium – between two continents and The Leo Baeck Institute
May 2, 2023
“Dance, Movement, and Jewish Modernity”
A Panel featuring Dr. Hannah Schwadron, Dr. Sonia Gollance,
Dr. Rosa Abrahams, Dr. Rebecca Rossen, and Meirav Ong
EIGHTEENTH SEASON 2021-2022
October 18, 2021
“Performing Chassidishkeit: Spirituality and Identity in Chabad Nigunim”
A lecture featuring Dr. Michel Klein and Dr. Ellen Koskoff
November 10, 2021
“Jewishness, Jewish Identity, and Music Culture in 19th Century Europe”
A roundtable discussion of the new edited collection Jewishness, Jewish identity and Music Culture in 19th Century Europe with panelists Luca Lévi Sala (editor), Marsha Dubrow, Cesar Leal, Mark Kligman, Steven Cahn, and David Hurwitz.
November 18, 2021
“Music, Theatre, and the Jewish Immigrant Story”
A panel featuring Dr. Dorothy Glick Maglione (William Jewell College), Dr. Peter Graff (Denison University), and Dr. John Koegel (California State University, Fullerton).
February 7, 2022
“Performing the Homeland: Contesting the Boundaries of Moroccan Jewish Identity”
A lecture by Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas (City University of New York, ALEPH, and Academy of Jewish Religion Cantorial Program)
March 21, 2022
“Laughing at Hitler: Soviet Yiddish Music and Humor during World War II”
A lecture-concert with narration by Dr. Anna Shternshis, and a vocal and piano performance by singer, songwriter, and scholar Psoy Korolenko
April 7, 2022
“EXILE: Music of the Early-Modern Jewish Diaspora”
A live performance featuring Incantare’s instrumental core ensemble, with special guests Dongmyung Ahn, violin, and Rebecca Cypess, organ and harpsichord, and in collaboration with The Center for Jewish History, The American Society for Jewish Music, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers University Department of Music, Rutgers University Department of Italian, The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Development, and Dillon Music
April 27, 2022
“Forbidden Music: Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis: Suppressed Musical Treasures of the Twentieth Century”
A live performance featuring Ulrike Anton, flute, the Selini Quartet, and Students from the Mannes School of Music at the New School in collaboration with Exilarte: Center for Banned Music of the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien, the Leo Baeck Institute, YIVO, and The Center for Jewish History
SEVENTEENTH SEASON 2020-2021
November 1, 8, 15, & 22, 2020
"Psalmody through the Ages: Music and the Book of Psalms"
A Four-Part Digital Scholarly Conference
SESSION I: November 1, 2020: Psalms in/as Performance
"On the Musical Performance of Psalms and its Implications for Identifying Psalms as a Liturgical Category in the Ashkenazi Synagogue"
Dr. Boaz Tarsi, Jewish Theological Seminary
"Connections and Contextualizations: Psalms in Samogohiri”
Dr. Cari Friesen, Independent Scholar
Respondent: Dr. Christine Dang, New York University
Chair: Dr. AJ Berkovitz, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
SESSION II: November 8: Negotiating Psalmscapes
"Hashamayim M'sap'rim K'vod Eil:" The Music of the Heavenly Spheres as Described in Psalm 19"
Cantor Sarah Grabiner, Radlett Reform Synagogue, United Kingdom
"The Psalm Settings of Salomon Jadassohn for Leipzig: A Study in Harmonic Practice"
Dr. Steven J. Cahn, University of Cincinnati
Respondent: Dr. Samantha Zerin, Independent Scholar
Chair: Ms. Samantha Cooper, New York University
SESSION III: November 15: Psalms and Social Experience
"Communal Grief in the Anthems of William Billings"
Mx. Raz Reuel Taylor, University of Memphis
"A Comparison of the Effects of Notational Systems on the Respective Psalm Chants of Sephardi Jewish Communities"
Mr. Isaac Treuherz, SOAS University of London
Respondent: Dr. Neely Bruce, Yale University
Chair: Dr. Rachel Adelstein, Independent Scholar
SESSION IV: November 22: Keynote
“Singing a Song of Zion: On Psalms as a Currency of Exile, Redemption, and Jewish National Consciousness"
Dr. Yael Sela, Open University of Israel
February 18, 2021
"Strategies of Holocaust Survival in German Jewish Music"
Dr. Karen Painter, “Mourning after Kirstalnacht,” University of Minnesota
Dr. Abby Anderton, “Performing Testimony in Postwar Germany: Music, Sound, and Survival,” Baruch College
Dr. Hernan Tesler-Mabé, “Heinz Unger and Holocaust Survival,” University of Ottawa
March 2, 2021
"From Social Distance to Spiritual Connection: A Passover Conversation"
Merri Lovinger Arian, Jonathan Comisar, Gordon Dale, Joyce Rosenzweig, Azi Schwartz (Hebrew Union College)
[Conversations on Zoom]
March 11, 2021
"Gifts of Song: Women Cantors and Musical Creativity"
Dr. Rachel Adelstein, Independent Scholar
Respondent: Cantor Benjie Schiller, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
April 13, 2021
"Transcendent Melodies: Exploring the Music and Cultural Context of Ishay Ribo"
Dr. Gordon Dale, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
May 5, 2021
"A Tradition of Talent: Jewish Opera Singers and the Patterns that Shaped Their Careers"
Ms. Samantha M. Cooper, New York University
June 2, 2021
"“To Bigotry No Sanction” An Oratorio Based on George Washington’s Letter to the Jews of Newport"
Cantor Jonathan Comisar, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
July 6, 2021
"Jewish Immigrant Encounters with Music and Theatre in the United States"
Ms. Samantha M Cooper (New York University) with Dr. Peter Graff (Denison University), and Dr. Dorothy Glick Maglione (William Jewell College)
SIXTEENTH SEASON 2019-2020
September 23, 2019, 7:00 PM
"Anneliese Landau’s Life in Music: From Nazi Germany to Émigré California"
Kovno/Shavel Room
Center for Jewish History
November 19, 2019
"Between Tradition and Transformation: Shabbat Musical Practice in the Jewish Community of Istanbul"
Dr. Joseph Alpar
12pm
Columbia University, 617 Kent Hall (near corner of Amsterdam and 116th St.)
Nov. 20, 2019, 12PM
November 20, 2019
"Laughter through Tears: Reconstructing the Lost Jewish Art of Badkhones"
Joshua Horowitz, musician and independent scholar (Berkeley, CA)
12pm
James Loeffler, Corcoran Dept. of History
Joel Rubin, McIntire Dept. of Music
Univ. of Virginia
March 1, 2019
"About a 17th Century Purim Opera: A Lecture/Demonstration with the Cast of Ester, Liberatrice del Popolo Ebreo by Allesandro Stradella"
Sponsored by the Jewish Music Forum, a project of The American Society for Jewish Music and The American Jewish Historical Society
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
"Letters to Erich: Family Separation and Holocaust Memory"
A Musical Performance and Talk featuring Jazz Pianist Ted Rosenthal
7:30pm
Nicholas Music Center, Rutgers University
FIFTEENTH SEASON 2018-2019
November 18, 2018 at 6:30 PM
"Soundscapes of Modernity: Jews and Music in Polish Cities"
Music of Polish Jews that is little known to American audiences —
choral pieces from 19th-century progressive (“Reform”) congregations,
compositions associated with Jewish music societies,
and avant-garde works by Jewish composers.
Dr. Halina Goldberg, Indiana University (Bloomington)
Rutgers University Choir, Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Center for Jewish History
Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 7:00 PM
"Samuel Adler: Building Bridges With Music"
Concert and Discussion
The prolific composer and educator Samuel Adler, born the son of a cantor in 1928 in Mannheim, Germany, reflects on a life in music in an intimate interview and performance of his chamber works.
Co sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute.Center for Jewish History
February 20, 2019 at 7:30 PM
"Religious Contempt in the Music of Bach"
Lecture by Dr. Michael Marissen (Swarthmore College)
(Cancelled due to snow; will be re-scheduled)
Shindell Choral Hall, Rutgers University
85 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ
Co-sponsored with Rutgers University
Apirl 10, 2019 at 6:30 PM
"The Scholar Activist: Opportunities, Challenges, and Frameworks for Pursuing Social Justice"
The Graduate Center, CUNY - Room 9204/05
365 Fifth Avenue, NYC
Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Summit (Research Professor, Tufts University)
Hannah Greene (Ph.D. Candidate, NYU)
Elaine Sandoval (Ph.D. Candidate, CUNY GC)
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Music
of The Graduate Center, CUNY
May 7, 2019 at 7:30 PM
"Jewish Religious Music in Nineteenth-Century America: Restoring the Synagogue Soundtrack"
Dr. Judah M. Cohen
Indiana University (Bloomington)
May 7, 2019 at 7:30 PM
Kovno/Shavel Room
Center for Jewish History
Jews constructed a robust religious musical conversation in the United States during the mid- to late-19th century.
While previous studies of American Jewish music history have looked to Europe as a source of innovation during this time,
Cohen’s careful analysis of primary archival sources tells a different story. Far from seeing a fallow musical landscape,
He finds that Central European Jews in the United States spearheaded a major revision of the sounds and traditions of synagogue music during this period of rapid liturgical change.
FOURTEENTH SEASON 2017-2018
October 3, 2017
"Henech Kon: Beyond the Dybbuk"
Lecture by Dr. Diana Matut, Martin-Luther Universität, Halle- Wittenberg, Germany, with a live performance of Kon's works by Re'ut Ben-Ze'ev (soprano) and Zalmen Mlotek (piano).
Center for Jewish History
Co-sponsored by YIVO and the American Jewish Historical Society
October 24, 2017
"The Music of Indecent"
With the Broadway Hit's composers, Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva, and Theatre scholar, Dr. David Savran
Chapel, Hebrew Union College-JIR
Co-sponsored by the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, Hebrew Union College-JIR
November 30, 2017
"Gustav Mahler: Jewish Identity and Nineteenth-Century Music Culture"
Lecture and Concert
Lecture by Dr. Daniel Jütte, New York University, followed by a performance in which Cantata Profana performs Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied Von Der Erde," as well as works by other composers in order to place it in the context of its German and Jewish milieu.
Center for Jewish History
February 7, 2018
"Jewish Baroque"
Lecture and Concert
Lecture/Performance featuring Dr. Michael Beckerman (New York University)
and Harpsichordist Dr. Simona Frenkel (Hebrew Union College) and friends.
Center for Jewish History
March 8, 2018
"Jewish, Music and Modernity in Buenos Aires"
Dr. Lillian M. Wohl, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles
Streamed Live from UCLA in conjunction with the Lowell Milken Fund for Jewish Music
April 29, 2018
Jewish Music and Humor
All-day Conference
Session I
“Welcoming Remarks: How do Jews Sound Funny?”
Dr. Gordon Dale, Hebrew Union College-JIR
“Humoring the Stereotype into a Liminal Space: Lipa Schmelzer’s “Gelt’”
Lecture and Interview: Dr. Tina Frühauf, Graduate Center CUNY with Lipa Schmelzer
“Sephardic Songs: The Lighter Side”
Dr. Judith Cohen, York University, Ontario, Canada
Session II
Music and Humor Where None Should Be: The Holocaust
Papers and Discussion by Panel: Dr. Aviva Atlani, Western University, London, Ontario; Dr. Michael Beckerman, New York University; Samantha Cooper, Ph.D. Candidate in Historical Musicology, New York University; Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University, Emeritus; Dr. Bret Werb, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Session III
Keynote Address: “Scoring Jewish Comedy: The (Very) Early Years”
Dr. Daniel Goldmark, Case Western Reserve University
Session IV – Jewish Comedians and Music in America
“Did Someone Call Me Schnorrer?: On the Marx Brothers’ Jewish Musical Humor”
Oliva Cacchione, Ph.D. Candidate in Musicology, Northwestern University
“Mickey Katz: A New Jewish Comedic Musical Frontier”
Dr. Mark Kiigman, Mickey Katz Chair in Jewish Music, UCLA
“The Jewish Music of Allan Sherman: The Broadway Parodies”
Dr. Ira Epstein, CUNY Graduate Center, Emeritus
Center for Jewish History
May 29, 2018
"Hasidic Popular Music"
Dr. Jessica Roda, University of Montreal
Held in Toronto as part of Jewish Music Week
THIRTEENTH SEASON, 2016-2017
November 28, 2016
"Israel in Three Anthems" (“Ha-Tikva,” “L’Internationale,” and “Yerushalayimshel Zahav”)
Michael A. Figueroa, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Discussant: Brigid Cohen, New York University
Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
"Jews, Music, and Postwar German Culture"
A Book Talk and Conversation in conjunction with The Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation and the Leo Baeck Institute
Dr. Tina Frühauf (RILM, CUNY Graduate Center)
Discussants: Dr. Mark Slobin, Winslow Kaplan Professor of Music, Wesleyan University and Dr. William H. Weitzer, Executive Director of the Leo Baeck Institute
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue, Skylight Conference Room 910
December 14, 2016
"Klezmer: Music, History & Memory"
Walter Zev Feldman, New York University, Abu Dhabi
Discussants: Dr. James Loeffler, University of Virginia
Glenn Dynner, Professor of Religion, Sarah Lawrence College.
Center for Jewish History
Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society, YIVO, the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center, and the An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture at the Center for Traditional Music and Dance
February 13, 2017
"Singing God's Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism"
Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Ph.D., Research Professor in the Department of Music and in the Judaic Studies program at Tufts University
Discussants: Dr. Mark Slobin, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Emeritus at Wesleyan University
Cantor Richard Cohn, Director, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music,
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History
March 23, 2017
“'Your New House': Wedding Songs, Gender, and Memory in an Indian Jewish Community"
Dr. Anna Schultz, Associate Professor of Music, Stanford University
Respondents: Dr. Jane C. Sugarman, Professor of Music, Graduate Center, CUNY
Dr. Eben Graves is a Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Music at Columbia University.
This program is co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
April 24, 2017
“'When We Remembered Zion: The New Budapest Orpheum Society Commemorates Yom HaShoah"
Pre-concert talk by Dr. Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History, University of Chicago
Performance by The New Budapest Orpheum Society, 2016 Grammy nominee for Best Classical Compendium: Julia Bentley (mezzo soprano), Philip V. Bohlman (artistic director), Stewart Figa (baritone), Danny Howard (percussion), Iordanka Kissiova (violin), Ilya Levinson (music director and piano), Mark Sonksen (double bass), and Don Stille (accordion).
This program is co-sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and the American Jewish Historical Society.
Center for Jewish History
May 11, 2017
“Songs of the Nation”: Maskilic Readings of Psalms after Moses Mendelssohn
A talk by Dr. Yael Sela Teichler, Open University of Israel, with Dr. Michah Gottlieb (discussant), New York University
Co-sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute and the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
TWELFTH SEASON, 2015–2016
April 4, 2016 at 7pm.
"Pavel Haas' 'Al S'fod' and Defiance – Performance as Ouija Board"
A Talk with Featured Singers: Cantor Joshua Breitzer, Kenneth Feibush, David Malecki, and Jay O'Brien
Dr. Michael Beckerman, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music at New York University
New York University
24 Waverly Place, Room 220
April 18, 2016
"New Sounds of Old Judeo-Spanish Songs"
A Talk and Roundtable Discussion
Dr. Edwin Seroussi, Emanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre
Discussants: Joel Bresler (www.sephardicmusic.org) and Dr. Stephen Blum, CUNY Graduate Center
Center for Jewish History
May 19, 2016
"New Directions in Jewish Music"
A Talk and Performance
Dr. Tamar Barzel, Visiting Curator, Fales Library-Downtown Collection, New York University and a live performance by Grammy-nominated composer and pianist, Uri Caine
Center for Jewish History
June 19, 2016
"Jews and Popular Music in the Americas"
Presentation and concert by Dr. Amalia Ran, Dr. Moshe Morad, and Dr. Nili Belkind. Featuring live music by Dr. Ben Lapidus and his band and Roberto Juan Rodríguez and his band.
Center for Jewish History
A book talk and performance in coordination with the American Jewish Historical Society's Biennial Scholars Conference, in recognition of the publication of Mazal Tov Amigos: Jews and Popular Music in the Americas (Brill, 2016).
ELEVENTH SEASON, 2014–2015
September 9, 2014
A Conversation with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot – “Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul,“ a new Sony CD.
With Hankus Netsky, arranger/producer.
Moderated by Dr. Arbie Orenstein, co-editor of Musica Judaica.
Monday, March 2, 2015
"Greeted with Smiles: Bukharian Jewish Music and Musicians in New York" (Oxford University Press)
Book Talk
Dr. Evan Rapport (The New School)
Performance by Ezro Malakov Maqom Ensemble
Center for Jewish History
April 26, 2015
"That Old Jewish Magic? Harold Arlen and American Popular Song”
Conversation with Dr. Walter Frisch (Columbia University) and Dr. Jonathan Karp (Binghamton University, SUNY)
Center for Jewish History
May 19, 2015
"Sara Levy's World: Music, Gender, and Judaism in Enlightenment Berlin"
Concert and Conversation
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff (Rutgers University), Dr. Christoph Wolff (Harvard University), Dr. Rebecca Cypess (Rutgers University), and the musicians of Sara Levy's Salon
In Sara Levy’s Salon: Rebecca Cypess, harpsichord and fortepiano; Christoph Wolff, moderator; Dongmyung Ahn, viola; Christine Gummere, cello; Benjamin Shute, violin; Frederick Urrey, tenor; Yi-heng Yang, fortepiano; Steven Zohn, traverso
Center for Jewish History
TENTH SEASON, 2013–2014
July 31, 2013
"Composer, Cellist and Researcher Joachim-Yehoyachin Stutschewsky (1891–1982):
The Role of Jewish Music in Building a Nation"
Dr. Racheli Galay, Jewish Music Research Centre, Presenter and cellist
Dr. Karin Wagner, University of Music and performing Arts Vienna, Pianist
Held at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem as part of the
Sixteenth World Center for Jewish Studies Conference
October 31, 2014
“Individual Voices and the Study of Jewish Cantillation”
Dr. Yonatan Malin,
Co-sponsored by the Department of Music, Columbia University
Held at Columbia University
November 20, 2013
“There is No Such Thing as Holocaust Music: A View from the East”
Dr. James Loeffler, University of Virginia, Charlottsville
Respondent: Dr. Michael Beckerman, New York University
Held at the Music Department of NYU
January 26, 2014
“America’s Enduring Cantorate”
Lecture with Musical Examples
The roles of cantors, and the music they sing, have developed from European heritage and responded to changing aesthetic needs across centuries.
Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-JIR and Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Cantors Jack Mendelsohn and Barbara Ostfeld-Horowitz
Center for Jewish History
March 24, 2014
"Mixing Music in Istanbul: Turkish Jews and Their Sacred Songs"
Lecture with Live Musical Examples
Dr. Maureen Jackson, University of Washington, and Dr. Münir Beken, UCLA
Center for Jewish History
April 8, 2014
“Hebrewizing Jewish Music?: Disarticulating Zionism in Early Israeli Art Music”
Dr. Assaf Shelleg, Shusterman Scholar, Yale University
Co-sponsored by Yale Institute of Sacred Music; the Judaic Studies Program at Yale; the Modern Hebrew Studies Program at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale; the Council on Middle East Studies at the MacMillan Center; and the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.
Held at Luce Hall, Yale University
NINTH SEASON, 2012-13
October 29, 2012
"A Prayer for Modernity: Cantor Abraham Baer (1834-1894) and the Jewish Reform Movement"
Anders Hammarlund, Associate Professor Center for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research (Live presentation cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy – Paper Published in Musica Judaica)
Hebrew Union College, Chapel
“The Enduring Case for Yiddish Music Ethnography: The Lives and Legacy of Morris Hollender, Sonia Victor, and Marty and Dave Levitt”
Dr. Hankus Netsky, New England Conservatori of Music
Center for Jewish History
“Tailoring an Operetta to Its Audience: Rumshinsky’s Di goldene kale”
Michael Ochs, Senior Lecturer on Music at Harvard University, Emeritus
Center for Jewish History
February 27, 2013
The Vision of the East and the Heritage of the West: The Making of a New Immigrant
Musical Culture in Israel
Jehoash Hirschberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Emeritus
Yale University
March 3 and 4, 2013
All-Day Conference on “Jewish Music in New Orleans”
Local Host: Dr. John H. Baron – Co-sponsored by Tulane University Jewish Studies Program
Evening Concert: Synagogue Music of Europe, America, and New Orleans
Performers: Cantorial Soloist Victoria May, Cantor Joel Colman, Cantor Jamie Marx,
with the Tulane University Choir, Leonard Raybon, Conductor
Dixon Recital Hall
Session I - From Europe to New Orleans: Jewish Music Past and Present
Rogers Memorial Chapel
European roots of American Jewish Music
Introduction: Michael Leavitt, President, American Society for Jewish Music
The Conference: Mark Kligman, Academic Chair, Jewish Music Forum
Speaker I: Brian Horowitz, Tulane University (historian) on the general European situation
Speaker 2: Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion (musicologist) on Jewish music in 19th-century Europe
Moderator: John H. Baron, Tulane University (musicologist)
Session II - American Adaptations of the European Experiences
Speaker 1: Michael Cohen, Tulane University (historian)
Speaker 2: Judah Cohen, Indiana University (ethnomusicologist) on the American adaptation of European Jewish music
Moderator: Edward P. Cohn, Rabbi Temple Sinai, New Orleans
Session III - Jews and Music in New Orleans vis-à-vis the European Roots and the General American Experiences
Speaker I: Stephen Whitfield, Brandeis University (historian): “The Jewish Experience in New Orleans”
Speaker 2: Jack Stewart (local architectural historian) on Jewish musicians in New Orleans in the jazz era “The Jewish Musical Experience in New Orleans"
Moderator: William Hess, New Orleans
EIGHTH SEASON, 2011-12
November 14, 2011
All-Day Conference on “German Jewish Aspirations in Music and Culture in 19th and 20th Century Germany”
The Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Co-Sponsored by: The American Society for Jewish Music’s Jewish Music Forum; Brandeis University’s: Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry; Center for German and European Studies; Library and Technology Services; with thanks to the Department of Music, Hebrew College; Brandeis University, Center for German and European Studies, and "Do Deutsch"
Welcome
Michael Leavitt, President, American Society of Jewish Music
Introductory Remarks
Dr. Sabine von Mering, Associate Professor of German and Women’s and Gender Studies, Brandeis University
Session I – 19th Century
“Re-voicing Tradition: Theory and Practice of German Jewish Synagogue Music”
Dr. Mark L. Kligman, Professor of Jewish Musicology, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Music Examples by singers from Hebrew College: Risa Wallach, soprano; Becky Wexler, alto; Kevin Margolius, tenor; Rick Lawrence, bass
“’Modern yet Jewish’: Searching for a Jewish Voice in Nineteenth-century Organ Music for the Synagogue”
Dr. Tina Frühauf, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University
“Die Form des Innern: The German-Jewish Musical Tradition and the Philosophical Anthropology of the Berlin School (Mendelssohn, Steinthal, Cohen)”
Dr. Michael Zank, Acting Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, Boston University
Session II - Complexity in Negotiating Contours of Jewish Music in the 20th Century
“Contextualization”
Dr. Eugene R. Sheppard, Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought, Brandeis University
“German Confrontations with Jewish Music: A Scholarly Dilemma”
Dr. Pamela Potter, Professor of Musicology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Response: Judith S. Pinnolis, Academic Outreach Librarian for Graduate Studies and Humanities, Brandeis University
Discussion Forum/ Q & A
Dr. Eugene R. Sheppard, Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought, Brandeis University
December 9, 2011
“Jewish Identities and the Quest for Purity in 20-Century Art Music”
Dr. Klara Moricz, Visiting Professor, University of Amherst
February 9, 2012
“The St. Petersburg School: The Music of Leo Zeitlin (1884-1930)” Professor Paula Eisenstein Baker
With music examples by YIVO's Sidney Krum Young Artists
SEVENTH SEASON, 2010 – 2011
November 3, 2010
"Chinese Jews: Aspects of their History and their Music"
Alexander Knapp, Joe Loss Lectureship in Jewish Music, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, Emeritus
Respondent: Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York
November 18, 2010
“Reimagining Tradition or Preserving Its Legacy: Yiddish Songs in Hasidic Communities and in Contemporary Eastern Europe"
Asya Vaisman, Visiting Research Scholar in Jewish Studies at Indiana University
Respondent: Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York
Co-sponsored by YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
February 16, 2011
“Robert Lachman's ‘Oriental Music Archive’ and Broadcasting Project in Mandatory Palestine”
Ruth Davis, University of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College
Respondent: Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
March 24th, 2011
“The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire”
James Loeffler, University of Virginia at Charlottesville
Lecture with Performance by YIVO’s Sidney Krum Young Artists
Co-sponsored the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
SIXTH SEASON, 2009 – 2010
November 8, 2009
“Pulitzer Prize-winning Composer Steve Reich Talks about his Jewish Music:" A unique interview by fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang
Steve Reich and David Lang
Center for Jewish History
December 10, 2009
Is Israeli Art Music Jewish?
Ronit Seter, Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Respondent: Dr. Klára Móricz, Amherst College
Held at and co-sponsored by Hebrew College, Boston
March 5, 2010
“Sacred and Secular Music Texts in Modern Times"
Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Dr. Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Co-sponsored by the Working Group on the Jewish Book at the Center for Jewish History
Center for Jewish History
March 14, 2010
"Back to the Roots: Notions of Jewish Musical Revival"
A panel discussion with Edwin Seroussi, The Hebrew University;
Benjamin Brinner, UC Berkeley; and Judah Cohen, Indiana University, curated and moderated by Francesco Spagnolo, The Magnes, and produced by Eleanor Shapiro, the Jewish Music Festival.
Co-sponsors: 25th Jewish Music Festival; The Magnes; Music Department and Jewish Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.
Held at the Berkeley-Richmond JCC, Berkeley, CA.
April 2, 2010
“’In a Land Large as an Apple Tree': Wolpe's Avant-Garde Music, Pedagogy, and Pacifist Zionism in 1930's Palestine”
Brigid Cohen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Respondent: Stephen Blum, City University of New York
Center for Jewish History
April 15, 2010
“Imaginaries of Exile and Emergence in Israeli, Jewish and Palestinian Hip-Hop”
David A. McDonald, Indiana University
Respondent: Edwin Seroussi, Jewish Music Research Center of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Held at and co-sponsored by Indiana University
FIFTH SEASON, 2008 – 2009
Note: During this season, for the first time, sessions of the Jewish Music Forum were held at sites outside of New York City, in the Northeast, in the mid-West, and on the West Coast.
November 14, 2008
“Beyond the Pale: The Russian Jewish Musical Experiment 100 Years Later”
Dr. James Loeffler, University of Virginia
Dr. Klára Móricz, Amherst College
Dr. Lyudmila Sholokhova, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Center for Jewish History
December 12, 2008
“American Jews, Music and the Memory of the Holocaust: 1945-1962”
Hasia Diner, New York University
Respondent: Cantor Bruce Ruben, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History
January 16, 2009
“Ethel Raim and the Center for Traditional Music and Dance: Three Decades of Showcasing Jewish Music”
With Ethel Raim and Dr. Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Co-sponsored by the Working Group on Jews, Media and Religion at New York University
Center for Jewish History
February 26, 2009
“The Jewish Self/The Jewish Other: Performing Identity in the ‘Majufes’"
Halina Goldberg, Indiana University
Held at and co-sponsored by the University of Chicago
April 24, 2009
"’Old Lamps for New:’ Alexander Krein and Jewish Neonationalism”
Dr. Klara Moricz, Amherst College
Respondent: Professor Alexander Rehding, Harvard University
Held at and co-sponsored by Harvard University
May 1, 2009
“The Participating Observer: Fieldwork in Jewish Settings”
Jeffrey A. Summit, Tufts University
Respondent: Henry Goldschmidt, Wesleyan University
Co-sponsored by the Working Group on Jews, Media and Religion at New York University
Center for Jewish History
FOURTH SEASON, 2007 – 2008
November 20, 2007
“Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive”
Chana Mlotek, YIVO Music Archivist
Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
with a performance by Zalmen Mlotek and Eleanor Reissa
Center for Jewish History
January 25, 2008
“Felix Mendelssohn and the Jewish Question”
Professor Jeffrey Sposato, University of Houston
Respondent: Professor Michael A. Meyer, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History
February 22, 2008
“Creating ‘New’ Jewish Sounds”
Josh Kun, University of Southern California,
Judah M. Cohen, Indiana University
Daniel Saks, member of the bands DeLeon and The LeeVees
Center for Jewish History
THIRD SEASON, 2006 – 2007
September 15, 2006
“How Do You Play the Musical Scream in Gideon Klein's Terezin Requiem?”
Michael Beckerman, New York University
Respondent: Gershon Kingsley, composer and conductor
Center for Jewish History
October 20, 2006
“Music and Memory among Crypto-Jews in Portuguese Border Villages”
Judith Cohen, York University, Toronto
Respondent: Jane Gerber, CUNY Graduate Center
Co-sponsored by the American Sephardi Federation
Center for Jewish History
November 10, 2006
“Composing Herself: Finding Miriam Gideon in Her 1958 Opera Fortunato”
Lecture, Performance and Panel Discussion
Stephanie Jensen-Moulton, CUNY Graduate Center
Panel discussion: Ellie Hisama, Columbia University,
Bruce Saylor, CUNY Graduate Center, and Cantor Charles Osborne
Center for Jewish History
December 8, 2006
“Mediterranean Israeli Music: The Politics of Aesthetics”
Amy Horowitz, Ohio State University
Respondent: Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, New York University
Co-sponsor: American Sephardi Federation
Center for Jewish History
February 16, 2007
“Sephardic Music On Record: A Century of Commercial Ladino Recordings”
Edwin Seroussi, Hebrew University, Jerusalem and Joel Bresler, discographer
Respondent: Dr. Virginia Danielson, Harvard University
Co-sponsor: American Sephardi Federation
Center for Jewish History
March 9, 2007
“The Media and the Messenger: Transforming the Cantor's Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Jeffrey Shandler, Rutgers University
Respondents: Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, New York University, and
Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Co-sponsor: Working Group on Jews/Media/Religion at the Center for Religion and Media, New York University
Center for Jewish History
April 27, 2007
“Blacks and Jews in American Popular Music: The Business of Cultural Mediation”
Jonathan Karp, SUNY Binghamton
Respondent: Jonathan Schorsch, Columbia University
Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
May 8, 2007
“Kurt Weill's Kol Nidre: Lecture with Music Performance”
Tamara Levitz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Respondent: Kim Kowalke, Eastman School of Music, Kurt Weill
Foundation.
Co-sponsors: The Weill/Lenya Institute; Milken Archive.
Center for Jewish History
SECOND SEASON, 2005-2006
September 23, 2005
“The Philadelphia Russian Sher Medley: Viewing the Immigrant Experience through a Musical Text”
Hankus Netsky, New England Conservatory of Music
Respondent: Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Center for Jewish History
November 4, 2005
“Between Church and Synagogue: The Organ in German- Jewish Culture”
Tina Frühauf,CUNY Graduate Center
Respondent: Dr. Philip Bohlman, University of Chicago
Center for Jewish History
November 18, 2005
“The Sephardic Voice in Ottoman Song: The Life and Art of Tanburi Isak Fresco (1745-1814)”
Walter Zev Feldman, Bar-Ilan University
Respondent: Karl Signell, Editor, Ethnomusicology Online
Center for Jewish History
December 2, 2005
“From Rossi to Rossini: Shifting Paradigms in Italian Jewish Musical Culture”
Francesco Spagnolo,Hebrew University/U.C.-Santa Cruz
Co-sponsored by the Centro Culturale Primo Levi as part of the
symposium “Humanism and the Rabbinic Tradition in Italy and Beyond”
Respondent: David Ruderman, University of Pennsylvania
Center for Jewish History
January 20, 2006
“The Tradition Continues on the Lower East Side: Experimental Music and the American-Jewish Imaginary in 1990s New York City”
Tamar Barzel, Wellesley College
Respondent: Jonathan Freedman, University of Michigan
Center for Jewish History
February 10, 2006
“Finding the Rhythm: Dance and Music in Jewish Studies”
Nina Spiegel, National Museum of American Jewish History
Respondent: Judah M. Cohen, New York University
Center for Jewish History
March 17, 2006
“Assimilating (Post-Modern) Jewish Music: Ambivalence in Contemporary Composition”
David Schiller, University of Georgia
Respondent: Klara Moricz, Amherst College
Center for Jewish History
March 31, 2006
“Energizing Jewish Musical Memory: Encounters with Sound and Text in Archives and Libraries”
Judith Pinnolis, Brandeis University
Respondents: Bret Werb, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Gina Genova, New York University / Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
April 28, 2006
“‘I am a Jew from eternal nowhere’: Yiddish song in the aftermath of the Holocaust”
Shirli Gilbert, University of Michigan
Respondent: Jeremy Dauber, Columbia University
Center for Jewish History
May 12, 2006
“The Migration of Memory: New Contexts for Mizrahi and Bukharian Musical Poetic Traditions in Israel and the United States”
Evan Rapport,City University of New York and Galeet Dardashti, University of Texas at Austin
Respondent: Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute, New York
Center for Jewish History
FIRST SEASON, 2004-2005
January 28, 2005 – Inaugural Lecture
“Memory and History in Jewish Music”
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music at Harvard University
Center for Jewish History
February 11, 2005
“Studying Jewish Music in Israel: Achievements, Failures and Challenges for the Future”
Edwin Seroussi, Emanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Respondent: Stephen Blum, City University of New York
Center for Jewish History
March 11, 2005
“Who Will Reclaim the Golden Sounds?: Judaism, Tradition, and Music Scholarship in an American Context”
Judah M. Cohen, New York University
Respondent: Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Center for Jewish History
April 8, 2005
“Beyond Yiddishland: New Studies from the Jewish Musical Mediterranean”
Mark Kligman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Respondent: Professor Uri Sharvit, Bar-Ilan University
Center for Jewish History
May 13, 2005
“Between Wissenschaft and Etnografiia: The Search for a Jewish Musical Science in Eurasia, Past and Present”
James Loeffler, Columbia University
Respondent: Dr. Lyudmila Sholokhova, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Center for Jewish History
