Samuel Torjman Thomas, PhD: artist-scholar

Samuel Torjman Thomas, a graduate of Berklee College of Music (BM Jazz Composition; BM Performance) and the City University of New York, Graduate Center (MM, Ph.D. Ethnomusicology), is a scholar-practitioner who researches and performs musics of North Africa and the Middle East, as well as a plethora of jazz traditions. He is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, oud, vocals, nay, bendir) and composer. He has published in the fields of ethnomusicology, religious studies, Jewish studies, and diaspora studies, and has recorded several albums as bandleader and artistic director of ASEFA and the New York Andalus Ensemble.

Dr. Torjman Thomas currently teaches music, interdisciplinary studies, and Sephardic studies at the City University of New York (Hunter College, John Jay College, and Brooklyn College), where he lectures on a variety of topics, including Muslim-Jewish intercultural exchange in music, philosophy, theology, and poetics; American popular music, jazz history and improvisation; religious studies, diaspora studies, and protest music. He also directs several student ensembles, and contributes to the cantorial programs at both the Academy of Jewish Religion and ALEPH.

His doctoral dissertation, Redefining Diaspora Consciousness: Musical Practices of Moroccan Jews in Brooklyn (2014), relies upon ethnographic fieldwork and musical analysis to demonstrate how community members express a layered diaspora consciousness that juxtaposes three distinctive diasporic identities: Jewish (ancient Jerusalem), Sephardi (Spanish), and Maroka’i (Moroccan). He has presented papers at several academic conferences (including the Society for Ethnomusicology, American Anthropological Association, American Jewish Studies, and the North African Conference of Moroccan Jewry at Morocco’s Bibliotheque Nationale) and published articles (including “The Virtues of the Shleuḥ: Celebrating the Amazigh Contribution to Jewish Music and Identity” in Sephardi Ideas Monthly), entries (for The Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World), and a book chapter on topics related to ethnomusicology and Sephardic Studies.

In addition to his academic work, Dr. Torjman Thomas is the Director of Musical Arts at the Sephardic Community Center, in Brooklyn, New York. He is also a frequent guest speaker, presenting formal talks on Sephardi-Mizraḥi historical and cultural topics at cultural institutions, universities, and in ecumenical spaces worldwide. He is a chazzan and facilitator of Jewish song traditions – Sephardi poetry, Chassidic niggunim, Klezmer music, and chazzanus.

Curriculum Vitae

Academic Publications

Click Here “Seeking the Saint, Finding Community: Celebrating the Hillula of the Baba Sali.” in Religious Diversity Today: Experiencing Religion in the Contemporary World, Volume Two, eds. Anastasia Panagakos and Jean-Guy Goulet. Praeger Books: Santa Barbara (2015)

Click Here Redefining Diaspora Consciousness: Musical Practices of Moroccan Jews in Brooklyn Ph.D Dissertation, City University of New York (2014)

Click Here “K’riat ha-Torah in the Maroka’i Community of Brooklyn: Negotiating New Boundaries of Diaspora Identity.” Journal of Synagogue Music (2013)

Artistic Director of AsefaMusic and the New York Andalus Ensemble

AsefaMusic includes several small ensemble setups, from traditional to contemporary iterations of Mediterranean Jewish musics.

• ASEFA is a five-person setup (two vocalists, oud, violin, bass, percussion) featuring a pan-Mediterranean repertoire of songs in Hebrew, Arabic, Ladino, and Spanish, from Andalusia and North Africa to Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
• ASEFA-Jazz is a four-person setup (saxophone/oud, vocals, electric guitar, bass, hybrid drumset) featuring a fusion of traditional and modern elements from North African music.
• Traveling in Pairs is a two-person setup (saxophone/oud & piano) exploring a range of material – traditional and original compositions – with a Downtown NYC sound.
• New York Andalus Ensemble is a large group (10-20 members) highlighting the musical heritage of Spain and North Africa, performing repertoire in Arabic, Hebrew, Ladino, and Spanish. The ensemble includes traditional instruments and a choir, and is devoted to fostering interfaith and interethnic participation. 

Visiting Artist

Dr. Torjman Thomas presents masterclasses, performance talks, and residencies worldwide. He discusses musical systems, approaches to improvisation, organology, and more.