A Playlist Captures the Sounds of the Fellowship

As part of the 2023–24 fellowship program on the theme of the Sound and Music of Jewish Life, I curated this playlist project in collaboration with current fellows to celebrate a year of vibrant Jewish music scholarship. Serving as both a listening tool and a creative project, the playlist captures the sonic component of this year’s theme and offers an aural entryway into the novel and reflective work conducted by this year’s fellows. This project aims to promote community engagement with the 2023–24 fellows’ research and Jewish musicology more broadly by connecting listeners to corresponding musical examples that showcase Jewish music’s rich and diverse cultural history.

With selections by Mary Channen Caldwell, Oren Cohen Roman, Uri Ermen, Michael Lukin, Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Mark Kligman, and Jessica Roda (read more about each of them here), this playlist contains a sampling of Jewish music from over 1,000 years of tradition. From the medieval to the contemporary, the Middle East to Mexico City, selections span religious, folk, art/classical, and popular music styles to represent Jewish music-making in its myriad forms. Included are a tenth-century French contrafactum, a recitative from an eighteenth-century Handel oratorio, a pre-WWI ethnographic recording, Syrian pizmonim, a Carlebach track, a 2023 recording from RAZA Women’s Circle, and more. In roughly an hour of music, this playlist displays the diversity found within Jewish musical practice, reflecting the varied musical tastes and cultural influences of Jewish communities throughout history and across the globe.

To listen to the playlist, scan the following QR code or visit this YouTube link.