The Department of Music at SOAS University of London offers Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Jewish music.
Joe Loss Lecturer in Jewish Music, SOAS, University of London: Alexander Knapp
Regular Courses include: Aspects of Jewish Music (BA – undergraduate)
The Music of the Jews (MMus – postgraduate)
The aims and objectives of these courses are to explore a musical culture which began in the Levant some 3,000 years ago and which has been diffused throughout the world, constantly adapting to new conditions and yet retaining its identity in many widely differing ethnic and geographical environments. Scholarly investigations combine broadly ethnomusicological and intercultural approaches with elements of musicology. The music of the Jews is one of the fundamental factors in the understanding of Near Eastern and European traditions, first having influenced, and then having been influenced by, the musics of Christianity and Islam. In addition to issues such as these, the main areas under discussion comprise the music and chant in the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem; Psalms and biblical cantillation; the role of the cantor; religious music in the synagogue (orthodox and reform) and in the home; art musics of the East (Turkey and Persia) and the West (e.g. Ernest Bloch); popular genres (“Broadway” and “Tin Pan Alley”); the sacred and secular idioms of the Sephardi Jews of the Mediterranean and parts of the Near East (e.g. Judeo-Spanish ballads); those of the “Oriental” Jews of Ethiopia, Yemen, Central Asia, India and China; those of the Ashkenazi Jews of North, Central, East and West Europe and beyond (e.g. Yiddish and Hasidic music); and those of modern Israel. Both courses are supported by four extensive archives of written and recorded Jewish music materials housed in SOAS.
http://www.jmi.org.uk
Occasional Courses SOAS University of London
KlezFest London Annual Summer School
KlezFest London has become the place to study the uplifting and poignant music, song and dance of Eastern European Jewish life. The faculty are all the very top musicians, singers and teachers from America and from Eastern Europe. They are the pioneers of the Klezmer Revival as well as the links to the past. Their knowledge and expertise conjure up the warm and intense Yiddish culture in dance classes, lectures, workshops, masterclasses, performances and jams from 9am till after midnight. The students – instrumentalists and singers of all ages and backgrounds – gather from all parts the world, brought together by a common passion for Jewish Music. There is expert tuition in instrumental and ensemble playing and for existing bands. Instrumentalists get to dance and sing as well as learn how to make their instruments sound Jewish as they study the language, repertoire, rhythm, ornamentation and style of Eastern European Jewish life creating an exhilarating atmosphere. KlezFest London is ideal for proficient musicians, regardless of whether you have played klezmer or sung Yiddish songs before. But it is also geared to cater for those with considerable experience and to take them further.
www.jmi.org.ukThe Department of Music at SOAS University of London offers Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Jewish music.
Joe Loss Lecturer in Jewish Music, SOAS, University of London: Alexander Knapp
Regular Courses include: Aspects of Jewish Music (BA – undergraduate)
The Music of the Jews (MMus – postgraduate)
The aims and objectives of these courses are to explore a musical culture which began in the Levant some 3,000 years ago and which has been diffused throughout the world, constantly adapting to new conditions and yet retaining its identity in many widely differing ethnic and geographical environments. Scholarly investigations combine broadly ethnomusicological and intercultural approaches with elements of musicology. The music of the Jews is one of the fundamental factors in the understanding of Near Eastern and European traditions, first having influenced, and then having been influenced by, the musics of Christianity and Islam. In addition to issues such as these, the main areas under discussion comprise the music and chant in the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem; Psalms and biblical cantillation; the role of the cantor; religious music in the synagogue (orthodox and reform) and in the home; art musics of the East (Turkey and Persia) and the West (e.g. Ernest Bloch); popular genres (“Broadway” and “Tin Pan Alley”); the sacred and secular idioms of the Sephardi Jews of the Mediterranean and parts of the Near East (e.g. Judeo-Spanish ballads); those of the “Oriental” Jews of Ethiopia, Yemen, Central Asia, India and China; those of the Ashkenazi Jews of North, Central, East and West Europe and beyond (e.g. Yiddish and Hasidic music); and those of modern Israel. Both courses are supported by four extensive archives of written and recorded Jewish music materials housed in SOAS.
http://www.jmi.org.uk
Occasional Courses SOAS University of London
KlezFest London Annual Summer School
KlezFest London has become the place to study the uplifting and poignant music, song and dance of Eastern European Jewish life. The faculty are all the very top musicians, singers and teachers from America and from Eastern Europe. They are the pioneers of the Klezmer Revival as well as the links to the past. Their knowledge and expertise conjure up the warm and intense Yiddish culture in dance classes, lectures, workshops, masterclasses, performances and jams from 9am till after midnight. The students – instrumentalists and singers of all ages and backgrounds – gather from all parts the world, brought together by a common passion for Jewish Music. There is expert tuition in instrumental and ensemble playing and for existing bands. Instrumentalists get to dance and sing as well as learn how to make their instruments sound Jewish as they study the language, repertoire, rhythm, ornamentation and style of Eastern European Jewish life creating an exhilarating atmosphere. KlezFest London is ideal for proficient musicians, regardless of whether you have played klezmer or sung Yiddish songs before. But it is also geared to cater for those with considerable experience and to take them further.
www.jmi.org.uk