Advancements in Studies and Scholarly Sessions Expand Understanding of the Realm of American Jewish Music
In the vibrant world of American Jewish music, two graduate student researchers, Ray Ace and Kacie Morgan, have been making significant strides in uncovering hidden gems and tracing the intricate threads of this rich musical heritage.
Ray Ace, focusing on the contributions of Max Helfman, a composer who worked at Sinai Temple on Wilshire Blvd., in Los Angeles, has spent numerous hours in the temple's archive, an attic-like space under the temple's organ. This archive proved to be a treasure trove, as Ray compiled a large list of works by Helfman, some of which are only available in the Temple Archive.
Over several weeks, Ray delved deep into the archive, encountering challenges such as large quantities of dust and the organ's wind turbine suddenly starting. However, his determination paid off, as he was able to analyze handwriting, document, and photograph sheet music composed or arranged by Max Helfman. The result of Ray's work will be a performance of Helfman's music in a concert at Sinai Temple in the spring of 2019, with many of the pieces receiving their first public performance.
Meanwhile, Kacie Morgan's research has revealed that Max Helfman was frequently mentioned among the composers she studied. Her work focused on the influencers and interrelationships of composers across generations in American Jewish Music. Kacie's research also resulted in a significant body of information that will support future research in this field.
In an interesting turn of events, Kacie's initial results, after a text analysis through Python, showed that Rosh Hashanah was the most frequently mentioned 'person' in the oral histories she studied. However, upon closer inspection, she realised that this was due to a computer misunderstanding.
The researchers' work was supported by a University of California Humanities Research Initiative "Emerging Humanities" Grant for a partnership between the Lowell Milken Fund for American Jewish Music and Sinai Temple. The Milken Fund co-sponsored The Second International Symposium of the Arts of Performance and Jewishness in Buenos Aires, Argentina on August 14. The symposium, titled "The Dybbuk - Between Two Worlds - A Century of Metaphors," featured a keynote address by Israeli musicologist Edwin Seroussi, who focused on the academic study of the arts with an interdisciplinary perspective.
Lillian Wohl, a Post-Doctoral Scholar, served on the organizing committee and presented at the event on the panel, "Jewish Mysticism and Musical Creation." The symposium provided a platform for scholars to explore the complex interplay between Jewish mysticism and musical creation, further enriching our understanding of American Jewish music.
Notable composers who have significantly influenced American Jewish music across generations include Ernest Bloch, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Arnold Schoenberg, and Aaron Copland. Each of these composers brought unique personal stories and influences to this musical tradition, melding Jewish identity with neoclassical style, pioneering the modern study of Jewish music history, revolutionizing music with atonality, and shaping a distinctly American sound in classical music, respectively.
Their work, along with the efforts of researchers like Ray Ace and Kacie Morgan, represents threads of Jewish culture, liturgical tradition, scholarly preservation, and artistic innovation that have shaped American Jewish music both in formal classical contexts and in popular and folk expressions. Their personal stories—from European roots to American immigration, from liturgical service to avant-garde composition—illustrate the rich, multifaceted history of this musical heritage.
Ray Ace's research in the Sinai Temple archive uncovered a wealth of music by Max Helfman, demonstrating the importance of entertainment in the exploration of American Jewish music. Kacie Morgan's work, in turn, highlighted the interconnections between composers in this field, revealing how music served as a shared language that spanned generations.
