Log In
Sign Up
Please join us for a conference at UCLA from April 19-21, 2026, entitled “Sonic Representations of Jewishness On Screen and Off.” This three-day event features academic papers, two keynote presentations, and three special performances and screenings that explore Jews’ longstanding involvement with film and television, including the significance of Jewish heritage and Jewishness both on screen and behind the scenes. Given the centrality of music to Jewish culture, this conference focuses especially on how portrayals of Jewishness are reinforced or made more complicated through music and sound in screen culture.
Day 1 includes a keynote address by UCLA’s new Dean of the Herb Alpert School of Music, Michael Beckerman, entitled “In Search of Ness-ness—Between Neutrality and Caricature in Jewish Film Music,” followed by a panel on sonic markers of identity in popular song and film. A roundtable discussion follows with experts on Kon’s life and work. The afternoon program features a special live performance of the Yiddish opera Bas-Sheve (1924) by composer Henech Kon and librettist Moyshe Broderzon. The opera will be followed by a screening of screening of a 1937 Yiddish film, Jolly Paupers, also scored by Kon.
Day 2 focuses on panels about Jewishness in opera and musical theater, followed by a multimedia presentation by film director Beth Lane exploring the musical aspects of her award-winning documentary, UnBroken (2023, streaming on Netflix). The evening program features a conversation with the conference’s second keynote speaker, celebrated film, TV, and concert composer, Sharon Farber.
Day 3 includes panels entitled “Jewish Music in Morocco,” “Liturgical Sounds on Screen,” and “Multifaceted Jewishness in Popular Culture.” The day concludes with the premiere of the Milken Archive’s documentary, Immigrant Songs: Yiddish Theater and the American Jewish Experience, introduced by the film’s director, Jeff Janeczko, followed by a Q&A panel.
