Writings
Lecture-Recital: The Golden Thread
An exploration of musical modes of the Near-Eastern Jewish World
A.Z. Idelsohn speaks of unique modes and motives running through music like a “golden thread” working to express the inner workings of the Jewish soul. My research aims to break down the wall that prevents so many from accessing the wisdom of Jewish music by highlighting its root foundation: the musical modes of the Near East.
The project explores the questions: what are the ancient elements that make music sound Jewish, dating back to the period of the Second Temple? (516 BCE-70 CE) How did biblical cantillation influence the development of Jewish prayer modes? How has the history of Jewish modes been inseparably entangled with Gregorian chant and the Arab maqam system? Through a lecture-recital series, an album, and an informational website, “The Golden Thread” makes learning about Jewish modes available and accessible. With sources from Idelsohn, the Cairo Genizah and the Aleppo Machzor, audiences are moved to consider their relationship with the world of Jewish sound. Coming Spring 2026.
Paper: A Snapshot of the Genizah World
The Role of the Cairo Genizah in our Understanding of Medieval Jewry
Paper: Effects of Vowel Modification in Singing
An Acoustic Investigation of the High Soprano Range
Linguistic research on the acoustics of vowel modification using an LPC (Linear predictive coding) model to track acoustic correlates of vowels across the high-frequency range of sopranos.
Study: Measuring music and prosody
How does musical ability affect sensitivity to speech sounds?
Accounting for variation in non-native speech discrimination with working memory, specialized music skills, and music background. I collected and processed data for this study, under Dr. Jocelyn Dueck and Dr. Seth Wiener.
Materials and Data: Available on Open Science Framework
Paper: Expressive Tuning in the Baroque and Beyond
An investigation into the history of tunings and temperaments, particularly concerning the underlying causes of the pull towards standardization and equal temperament. This paper explores the ancient and pre-modern roots of later tuning trends with an emphasis on Gioseffe Zarlino and Pythagoras, and challenges the traditional idea of viewing tuning changes over time through a tunnel view of societal progression.