Lessons – Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience

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Since launching in 2020, the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience has initiated numerous academic projects that further our mission of increasing knowledge of the Jewish experience in America.
- Featured Milken Center Academic Programs
- Academic Calendar
The Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience works with academics, performers, and our local community to develop an array of exciting initiatives accessible to the general public and experts alike.
As a university-based Center, we are committed to providing opportunities for students to explore and participate in Jewish music in a multiplicity of ways.
The music of American Jewish experience has its first permanent dedicated academic home with the establishment of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience. It unites the academic and the artistic, showcasing scholars, artists and educators to share their sounds and stories.
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A turnkey adult education project that invites us to think about the American Jewish experience through stories of the evolving nature of Jewish music.

Engage your congregants and constituents to think about their lives and histories in America in new and different ways. Stories of Music is a turnkey adult education project of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Our goal is to provide easy to deliver, fully prepared lessons on a broad range of musically related topics. Each lesson is designed to engage participants in adult education programs to think about the American Jewish experience through stories of the evolving nature of Jewish music.

Download User’s Guide

What we offer

Comprehensive, user-friendly lesson plans prepared by master educators and reviewed by pedagogic experts on a broad range of musically related topics

Class presentation containing the audio and video clips that correspond to the lesson’s plan

Resource document for teacher and student use, in addition to student worksheets

Flyer templates found here to market your individual Stories of Music lesson, or series of lessons. Each template may be downloaded and is in an editable PDF format.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

Jews in the Invention of the American Musical

This lesson will examine the development of American musical theater, highlighting the involvement of Jews at each stage of production. We will focus particularly on Jewish songwriters and their work on Broadway.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

Jewish Music 101: Sounds, Settings & Significance

You will embark on an exciting, educational journey which will take you through many aspects of Jewish music and how it connects to our history, practice, and identity as a Jewish people.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

Tzedek, Tzedek (Tashir v’) Tirdof: Music in Doing Justice

This two-part lesson explores the use of music in the work of doing justice. It will explore the power of protest, the power of ritual, and the power of performance.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

Living Jewishly, Singing Globally: The Origins and Movement of Moroccan and Persian Jewish Communities

This lesson is an exploration and celebration of the very rich music and culture of the Moroccan and Persian Jewish communities.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

Living Jewishly, Singing Globally: Lifecycles and Holidays of Moroccan and Persian Jewish Communities

This lesson is an exploration and celebration of the very rich music and culture of the Moroccan and Persian Jewish communities as expressed through some of their lifecycle and holiday practices.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

The Sounds of Eretz Yisrael in America: 1920’s-1950’s

This lesson will explore how American Jews have engaged with Israeli musical forms, from the 1920’s through the 1950’s. We will examine how Israeli music navigated the ongoing relationship between American Jews and Zionism and Israel.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

The Sounds of Eretz Yisrael in America: The Crucial 60’s

This lesson will explore how music of Israel grew in the consciousness of American Jews and penetrated American culture generally. American Jewry formulated its own brand of Zionism, which supported the enterprise in Palestine but remained committed to life in America.

By Lorry Black & Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks

When Words Alone Fail: Music and the Shoah

This lesson will explore some of the musical activities that took place during the Shoah, and the ways that Jews have collectively remembered the Shoah through music.

“This lesson is wonderful, truly. I appreciate the approach, the coverage of the topic, and the focus. There is a solid through line and depth of the material. It feels like a lesson developed by someone with true mastery of the topic.”

“My overall sense is one of deep appreciation. The lesson is clearly well researched, thought through, designed and organized.”

Our Stories of Music Team

We are deeply grateful to the two people who wrote these lessons:

Lorry Black, DMA, Associate Director, Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience
Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks, Educational and Curriculum Specialist, Stories of Music; Rabbi, Congregation Am HaYam (Ventura, CA)

Our gratitude extends to the team of pedagogic advisors and reviewers of the most recent lessons:

Mark Kligman, PhD, Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music, UCLA
Dr. Susan Helfter, USC Thornton School of Music
Rabbi Devin Villarreal, Thrive Educational Services
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas
Dr. Galeet Dardashti
Rav Hazzan Ken Richmond, Temple Israel of Natick

We are also deeply grateful to the following people for their help in creating the original 9 lessons and reviewing earlier lessons:

Rabbi Barry Lutz, Educational Specialist
Cantor Matthew Austerklein (Beth El Congregation)
Cantor David Berger (KAM Isaiah Israel)
Lorry Black, DMA, Associate Director, Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience
Cantor Kenny Feibush (Temple Sholom of West Essex)
Jeff Janeczko, PhD, Curator and COO of the Milken Archive of Jewish Music
Mark Kligman, PhD, Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music, UCLA
Cantor Hinda Labovitz (Ohr Kodesh)
Cantor Sheldon Levin, Congregation Neve Shalom (Metuchen, NJ)
Cantor Julie Berlin, Temple Beth-El (San Antonio, TX)
Rabbi Adam Schaffer, Temple Aliyah (Woodland Hills, CA)

Statement of Standards and Quality

We will continuously strive to serve our instructors and their learning communities by providing curricula with outstanding quality (and consulting services) that promote excellence in education focused on the full range of American Jewish experience through music, in order to nurture people who are passionate about Jewish music and American Jewish life, history, and culture, and how they are intertwined.

Have questions? Download our Stories of Music Users’ Guide.

In our endeavor to achieve this objective, we will:

Provide curricula and support materials of outstanding quality that promote excellence in education.
Write and produce lessons focused on the full range of American Jewish experience through music that live up to the best standards of pedagogy.
Listen to the needs of instructors and communities, and support their efforts through consulting services.
Build relationships between us, the cantorial community, synagogue educators, synagogues, and other Jewish institutions, organizations and communities, especially in North America.