Voices from the Diaspora:
Jewish American Composers and their Worlds
A Conversation with Howard Pollack
Monday, April 20, 2026
Holsclaw Hall
University of Arizona School of Music
4–5:30 p.m.
Howard Pollack, Madison Professor of Music at the University of Houston and noted biographer of American composers, joins Matthew Mugmon, Associate Professor of Music, to consider how the Jewish backgrounds of George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Ernest Bloch, Marc Blitzstein, and others shaped their lives and work.
The event will include a performance of Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem: Pictures of Chassidic Life with Professor Pollack (piano) and graduate violinist Qianqian Zhang Soyfer.
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Humanities Seminars Program, the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, and the School of Music.
Free and open to the public.
Can’t make it in person? Live stream here.
Please note, event duration is approximate.
For parking information, including accessible parking and entrances, click here.