Please enjoy this special collaborative Bonus episode between The Sounding Jewish Podcast and Between Two Shabbatot: A Weekly Podcast from Temple Etz Chaim! On this episode, host Dr. Noam Meyer Fields-Gould interviews Dr. Samantha M. Cooper (Robert M. Beren Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies, University of Kansas) about her research, connections to Jewish musical life, and forthcoming book American Jews and the Making of the New York Opera Industry, 1880-1940 (Oxford University Press, 2026).

Between Two Shabbatot is a weekly look into the heart of the community of Temple Etz Chaim of Thousand Oaks, California. Each episode starts with something small—a melody, a plaque on a wall, a ritual preschoolers do before candle lighting—and follows it into a conversation with the people who make this congregation—and the larger Jewish community—what it is today. You can listen to Season 1 here: https://www.templeetzchaim.org/connect/between-two-shabbatot/

Enjoy this trailer for the fifth season of Sounding Jewish, a monthly podcast featuring conversations with musicologists, ethnomusicologists, and sound studies scholars, hosted and produced by Dr. Samantha M. Cooper, Robert M. Beren Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies at the University of Kansas. The first episode will be released on November 1, 2026.

The sixth and final episode of Season 4 of The Sounding Jewish Podcast features Dr. Sarah Ross. We explore her entrance into academia, interest in Jewish women's music-making, and her recent work on Jewish music in heritage studies.

Guest Bio:

Prof. Dr. Sarah M. Ross is a scholar in Jewish Music Studies. Since 2015, she has served as Professor of Jewish Music Studies and Director of the European Centre for Jewish Music (EZJM) at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. Since 2022, she is the speaker of the Priority Programme "Jewish Cultural Heritage" (SPP 2357). Her major publications include A Season of Singing: Creating Feminist Jewish Music in the United States (Brandeis University Press, 2016) and The Moralization of Jewish Heritage in Germany (Lexington Books, 2024).

Sound Clip Citations:

SOUND CLIP #1: Credit for the intro and outro music belongs to rosegoldglitch, May 22, 2020, freesound.org, https://freesound.org/people/rosegoldglitch/sounds/519176/

SOUND CLIP #2: “The Meron Tragedy – ACHEINU at the Kotel,” posted May 5, 2021 by Will Wolfowich, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KQVAqxXlvb0

SOUND CLIP #3: “Rosh Chodesh Moon,” posted on November 11, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QNUsRjasj4&list=RD0QNUsRjasj4&start_radio=1.

SOUND CLIP #4: “Shechinah, My Light – Rabbi G. Rayzel Raphael,” posted by Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael on December 16, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNmKg5qZrYs&list=RDkNmKg5qZrYs&start_radio=1

SOUND CLIP #5: “Gates of Justice – Chana Rothman – 3 Songs for Justice,” posted by Chana Rothman on October 22, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUiLSBFaWpc&list=RDVUiLSBFaWpc&start_radio=1

SOUND CLIP #6: “Sing Unto God – Debbie Friedman & the Highland Park Senior High Camerata (1973),” posted by bran on December 16, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF2u7AFPPMo&list=RDBF2u7AFPPMo&start_radio=1

SOUND CLIP #7: "Hine Ma Tov" performed on Alphorns by Swiss-Jewish musician Martin Mürner and his colleague Mike Maurer in the synagogue in Zurich, recording provided courtesy of Sarah Ross.

SOUND CLIP #8: “Louis Lewandowski - Ma Towu (Leipziger Synagogalchor gemeinsam mit dem Kammerchor Josquin des Préz),” posted by the Leipziger Synagogalchor on September 9, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgRi8azXJRg&list=RDCgRi8azXJRg&start_radio=1

SOUND CLIP #9: “Chorkonzert UNESCO-Welterbetag "Hashiwenu" mit jüdischer Synagogalmusik - Deutscher Kammerchor,” posted by Dommusik Speyer on August 10, 2021,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKperNin2F8&list=RDdKperNin2F8&start_radio=1