The Jewish Music Forum Complete Listing of Sessions (2005-06 to 2016-2017)
All Jewish Music Forum programs are free and open to the public
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 theJewish 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