The Ithaca College Jewish Studies Program and the School of Music present:
Mediterranean Encounters: Judeo-Islamic Soundscapes
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas
Sunday, April 10, 2022
Pre-concert talk: 7:00 PM
Concert: 7:45 PM
Hockett Family Recital Hall
Free and Open to the Public
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas presents a musical treasury of individual and shared traditions among Jews and Muslims. Blending vocals, oud, violin, nay, and percussion, with songs in Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and Ladino, his performance traverses North African and Levantine song traditions. Drawing upon a rich intercultural mix of Hebraic and Islamic traditions, audiences feel the heartbeat of the Mediterranean. Before the concert, Dr. Thomas offers a talk to discuss the interrelationship of Jewish and Muslim music, including a primer on understanding the musical languages of the region.
Dr. Torjman Thomas teaches ethnomusicology and Sephardic Jewish Studies at City University of New York, and is a faculty member for both the ALEPH and Academy of Jewish Religion Cantorial Programs. His scholarship centers on Sephardic thought and culture, musical cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, Jewish musical traditions, and jazz-based traditions. Dr. Torjman Thomas is also Director of Musical Arts at Brooklyn's Sephardic Community Center.
He is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, oud, nay), vocalist (Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish), and founder and artistic director of ASEFA and the New York Andalus Ensemble. His artistic work centers on performing music of North Africa, the Middle East, and Global Jazz. He is a frequent guest speaker, hazzan, and facilitator in ecumenical spaces, cultural institutions, and music and spiritual retreats worldwide.
For more information, please contact Rebecca Lesses, Coordinator of Jewish Studies, at (607) 793-8807 or rlesses@Ithaca.edu.
