Edwin Seroussi
Edwin Seroussi is an Israeli musicologist of Uruguayan origin. He is the Emanuel Alexandre Professor Emeritus of Musicology, chair of the Academic Committee of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a visiting scholar in Jewish studies at Dartmouth College. He is the 2018 Israel Prize laureate in the field of Musicology. In 2024 he became a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Biography
Edwin Seroussi was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. In Montevideo he studied violin with Maestro Miguel Szilágyi Pauer and composition with Héctor Tosar Errecart. He immigrated to Israel in 1971 to study at the Department of Musicology of the Hebrew University at the undergraduate and graduate levels continuing into his doctoral studies at the Department of Music of the University of California Los Angeles. Upon graduation he taught at Bar-Ilan University, transferring in 2000 to the Hebrew University. Parallel to his undergraduate studies in musicology he continued to pursue the study music composition with Prof. Andre Hajdu.He founded and edits Yuval Music Series and is editor of the CD series Anthology of Music Traditions in Israel of the Jewish Music Research Centre. As of 2025 he is acting as the chairman of the Centre.
Areas of Research and Publications
Seroussi's earliest publications explored diverse aspects of the history and consolidation of Sephardic liturgical music. At the same time, he started to explore the Judaeo-Spanish song repertoire, leading an international team in the editing of the Cancionero sefardí by Alberto Hemsi, one of the largest field collections of Sephardic songs from the pre-World War II period. Another line of historical research into the same repertoire led to the publication of Incipitario sefardí with the collaboration of Rivka Havassy. This volume records all the songs in Judaeo-Spanish mentioned as melody clues in collections of Hebrew sacred poetry in manuscript and printed. A series of articles on single Judeo-Spanish songs led to the publication of the monograph Ruinas sonoras de la modernidad: La canción popular sefardí en la era post-tradicional. A slightly updated English version of this monograph appeared as Sonic Ruins of Modernity" Judeo-Spanish Folksongs Today.Parallel to his work on Sephardic music cultures, Seroussi turned his attention to popular music in Israel. Results of this research project appeared in the book that he co-authored with sociologist of culture Motti Regev, Popular Music and National Culture in Israel.
Beyond his specific areas of specialization, Seroussi has published essays on Jewish music in general, as well as on Judeo-Muslim relations in music.