Event

From at least the sixteenth century up to the present, Hebrew devotional poetry (piyyutim) set to Ottoman/Turkish makam music for use in the synagogue has shown the close relationship Jews established with members of Muslim mystical brotherhoods in Ottoman regions. This program presents selections from these shared musical repertoires. 

Performance by Dünya Ensemble with discussion by Katz Center fellow Edwin Seroussi. With guest artist and scholar Joseph Alpar. 

Please note that this event is sold out. Walk-ins will be accepted 10 minutes before the start time, if space allows. 

SPEAKER

Edwin Seroussi

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Edwin Seroussi is the Emanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology and the director of the Jewish Music Research Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He researches North African and Eastern Mediterranean Jewish music, Judeo-Islamic relations in music, and Israeli popular music. A pioneer in the study of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern musical cultures and traditions, Seroussi was just awarded the 2018 Israel Prize in the music category. He has also won the Joel Engel Prize for Life Achievement in Jewish Music Research, Tel Aviv Municipality.

Seroussi received his PhD in Music from UCLA. He has held visiting professor and fellowship appointments across the globe, including at the University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, and Harvard University. He has previously served as president of the Israel Musicological Society, and as the president of the Israel Committee of the International Music Council, UNESCO.

DÜNYA Ensemble

DÜNYA is a Boston-based musicians' collective and record label led by Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol. Its goal is to explore a cosmopolitan view of the world through the lens of a wide range of Turkish traditions, alone and in conversation with the musics of the formerly Ottoman peoples—Greeks, Jews, Armenians, Arabs, Kurds, mystics—as well as with western and other world traditions.

For more information about DÜNYA and their programs, visit http://www.dunyainc.org/.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jews-and-sufis-shared-musical-traditions-tickets-54531838196

SPONSORS

University of Pennsylvania Middle East Center and University of Pennsylvania Jewish Studies Program

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Klatt Family and the Harry Stern Family Foundation for this and all public programming.