Music and Synagogue Life: Texts, Sounds, Places, and Objects

TWO CYCLES OF SEMINARS

March 9–12, 2026, 3–5 pm
The primary sources of synagogue life

It will address the history of the synagogue—a place of prayer, study, and gathering—starting with the persistence in the modern era of elements that date back to the origins of one of the fundamental institutions of Jewish life since the first centuries of the Common Era. In particular, it will examine its texts (and languages ​​and literatures), sounds (and music), spaces (and architecture and visual culture), objects (and material culture), and gestures (and choreography), both separately and in their multimedia interaction within the living context of ritual manifestations.

4–7 maggio 2026, ore 15-17
Jewish Musical Cultures in Italy: Forms and Places

It will specifically examine Jewish musical history in Italy, analyzing written sources (among the oldest ever), produced by both Jews and Christian Hebraists since the 12th century, and oral sources, documented through ethnographic recordings, from the 20th century onwards.
It will also focus specifically on the musical dimensions of the cultural melting pot in the Venetian Ghetto, and on musical production during the Emancipation period (18th–19th centuries).

Free admission until all available seats are filled

Francesco Spagnolo
(University of California, Berkeley—Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome)

The program is available

Venezia, Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi
www.fondazionelevi.it
info@fondazionelevi.it

Fondazione Berengo Segre per la Ricerca Storica
www.fondazioneberengosegre.org
fondazioneberengosegre@gmail.it