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Curator & Associate Adjunct Professor

Francesco Spagnolo CV

Francesco Spagnolo is a multidisciplinary scholar focusing on Jewish studies, music, and digital media. At the University of California, Berkeley, he is the Curator of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life and an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Music and the Center for Jewish Studies. He is also an affiliated faculty with the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, the Institute of European Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Religious Diversity Cluster of the Othering & Belonging Institute. Dr. Spagnolo is also a host for the cultural programs of Italian National Radio (RAI) in Rome, and a Scholar-in-Residence with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco. Among his publications are Italian Jewish Musical Traditions (Rome-Jerusalem, 2001) and The Jewish World: 100 Treasures of Art and Culture (New York, 2014).

As the Curator of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Dr. Spagnolo holds the primary responsibility regarding the intellectual and academic interpretation of its holdings, recommends acquisitions, deaccessions, and conservation priorities, presents and publishes in national and international settings, plans exhibitions and public and academic programs, mentors and supervises all personnel in curatorial duties, teaches University courses, and cultivates major donors. During his tenure at The Magnes, he has curated and presented over 35 individual exhibitions (from conception to installation) and 200 public programs (including talks, symposia, film screenings, live performances, etc.) in collaboration with presenters ranging from UC Berkeley faculty and students to visiting scholars, artists, and members of the community. He has presided over more than 100 individual collection gifts, and has led the acquisition of new important collections, including the Mark and Peachy Levy Family Judaica Collection (2016), the Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection (2017), the Roman Vishniac Archive (2018), and the Berman-Bloch Collection of Israeli Art (2019).

Intersecting textual, visual, and musical cultures, Dr. Spagnolo actively contributes to academic and cultural heritage institutions, as well as live and electronic media, in Europe, Israel, and the United States. He is frequently invited to present at academic institutions worldwide, publishes on topics ranging from music to philosophy, film, and literature, and curates exhibitions and digital programs.

As a scholar, his research interests center on the intersections of music and synagogue life, particularly among Italian Jews, an arena in which Ashkenazi and Sephardic liturgical and popular musical traditions have historically come together in unique ways. As a curator, his focus is on the performative aspects of Jewish material cultures and artistic expressions across the global diaspora. Where his scholarly and curatorial work meet is in asking a variety of questions about the nature of (Jewish) cultural heritage, and the role of synagogues, archives, and museums (including their respective “rituals” and performative settings) as communal institutions in the modern period.

Education

  • Ph.D., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2007
  • Laurea, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy, 1994
  • BA, Conservatorio di Musica “G. Verdi”di Milano, Italy, 1986

UC Berkeley Courses

Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley) Courses

  • Aesthetics in Islam and Judaism (HSHR 2780, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Spring 2019)
  • The Cultures of the Synagogue (HRHS 4320, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Spring 2017)

University of California at Santa Cruz

  • Dante’s Divine Comedy (Literature Dept., Winter 2006)
  • Music of Modern Israel (Music Dept., Spring 2005, Winter 2006)
  • Jews in Italy: A Paradigm in Jewish Cultural Studies (Literature Dept., Fall 2005)
  • Verdi in the Synagogue: Jewish Music and Italian Culture (Music Dept., Winter 2005, Fall 2005)

University of Milan (Italy)

  • Theories of Intertextuality (Dept. of Musicology and Performing Arts, Spring 2002)
  • Music in Jewish Cultures and Societies (Goren-Goldstein Center for Judaic Studies, Spring 2001)
  • Silence and the Limits of Interpretation (Philosophy Dept., Fall, 1999)
  • Is there a Jewish Aesthetic? Multi-Disciplinary Research Seminar (Philosophy Dept., 1998-1999)
  • Intertextuality, Textual Strategies, Quotation (Philosophy Dept., Fall 1997)

Exhibitions

  1. In Plain Sight. Jewish Arts & Lives in the Muslim World | 2024 (with Qamar Adamjee)
  2. Cities and Wars: Roman Vishniac in Berlin and Jerusalem 1947/1967 | 2023
  3. In Twilight: Ori Sherman’s Creation 1986-1988 | 2022
  4. Time Capsules. The Magnes: 10 Years at UC Berkeley | 2021
  5. In Real Times. Arthur Szyk: Art & Human Rights (1926-1951) | 2020
  6. Threads of Jewish Life: Ritual & Other Textiles from the San Francisco Bay Area | 2020 (as Guest Curator at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco)
  7. An Archive of Archives: Roman Vishniac’s Exhibition History | New York, 1971-1972 | 2020
  8. a tsigele | one little goat: El Lissitzky’s Chad Gadyo at 100 (1919-2019) | 2019
  9. Souvenirs from Utopia: The Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem (1906-1932) | 2019 (with Shir Kochavi)
  10. Memory Objects: Judaica Collections and Global Migrations | 2019
  11. Pièces de Résistance: Echoes of Judea Capta from Ancient Coins to Modern Art | 2018
  12. Project “Holy Land”: Yaakov Benor-Kalter’s Photographs of British Mandate Palestine, 1923-1940 | 2018 (with Zoe Lewin)
  13. The Karaite Canon: Manuscripts and Ritual Objects from Cairo | 2018
  14. High Holy Days at the Luna Park. Show-card posters from the Firschein Press | 2018
  15. The Invisible Museum. History & Memory of Morocco (Case Study No. 8) | 2017
  16. Sketching “Fiddler”: Set Designs by Mentor Huebner | 2017
  17. The Power of Attention: Magic & Meditation in Hebrew shiviti Manuscripts | 2017
  18. I-Tal-Yah, An Island of Divine Dew. Italian Crossroads in Jewish Culture (Case Study No. 7) | 2016
  19. Ezekiel Schloss: By Design. American Jewish Education in the ‘World Over’ Cover Art | 2016
  20. From Mendelssohn To Mendelssohn: German Jewish Encounters in Art, Music, and Material Culture | 2016
  21. Stages of Identity: Theater Posters from The Magnes Collection (1903-1994) | 2016 (with Lauren Cooper)
  22. Living by The Book: Jewish Identity and the Everyday Power of Text (Case Study No. 6) | 2015
  23. Larger than Life: Jonah and the Fish | 2015
  24. Mima’amaqim. In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art (David Wilson & Francesco Spagnolo) | 2015 (as Guest Curator at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco)
  25. The Future of Memory: Jewish Culture in the Digital Age | 2015
  26. The Secret Language of Flowers. Botanical Drawings from Israel, 1949-1950 | 2015
  27. Gourmet Ghettos. Modern Food Rituals (Case Study No. 5) | 2014 (with India Mandelkern)
  28. Literary Minds: Soviet Jewish Writers Portrayed by Matvey Vaisberg | 2014 (with Eli Rosenblatt)
  29. Saved by The Bay: The Intellectual Migration from Fascist Europe to UC Berkeley | 2014
  30. Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley (Case Study No. 4) | 2013
  31. Holy Land, California. Prints by Albert Garvey | 2013
  32. Sound Objects (Case Study No. 3) | 2013
  33. Reborn: Posters from the European Jewish Cultural Renaissance | 2012
  34. The Inventory Project (Case Study No. 2) | 2012
  35. Dissolving Localities | Berkeley Jerusalem | 2012
  36. Shaken, Not Stirred (Case Study No. 1) | 2012 (with Alla Efimova)
  37. The Magnes Effect: Five Decades of Collecting | 2012 (with Alla Efimova)
  38. Gained in Translation: Jews, Germany, California circa 1848 | 2011 (with Alla Efimova)

Select Publications 
Books, Journals, and CDs

  • Editor, The Musical Traditions of the Jews in Corfu, Greece, “Anthology of Musical Traditions in Israel,” The Jewish Music Research Centre, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (in preparation)
  • Editor (with Judah Cohen and Klára Móricz), Journal of Jewish Identities. Special Issue on Jewish Music, 10/1 (January 2017), The Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Author (with Alla Efimova), The Jewish World: 100 Treasures of Art and Culture, New York, Skirà Rizzoli 2014
  • Editor, Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954–1962), “Anthology of Musical Traditions in Israel” no. 14, The Jewish Music Research Centre, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem & Archivi di Etnomusicologia, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome-Jerusalem 2001 (reissued 2006)
  • Editor, Estetica delle situazioni estreme [An Aesthetics of Extreme Situations], Cuem, Milan 2000, 200 p. [Italian]
  • Author, Il ballo del camaleonte. Citazione, strategie del testo e sopravvivenza intorno a Zelig di W. Allen [The Chameleon’s Dance. Quotation, Textual Strategies and Survival Around W. Allen’s Zelig], Cuem, Milan 1999, 115 p. [Italian]
  • Editor, Imre Toth, No! Libertà e verità, creazione e negazione [No! Freedom and Truth, Creation and Negation. A Palimpsest of Words and Images by Imre Toth], Rusconi, Milano 1998, 487 p. (reissued: Bompiani, Milan 2003) [Italian]

Recent Articles (in books, journals, and encyclopedias)

  • “Sound Objects: Music, Material Culture, and the Sound Study of the Synagogue,” in Wandering Objects, Ed. Gabrielle Berlinger and Ruth von Bernuth, Wayne State University Press (forthcoming)
  • “Layers of Song. Migrations, Identities, and Synagogue Music in Corfu, Greece,”Music in the Mediterranean Diaspora,  Ed. Kate van Orden, I Tatti Studies in Italian Renaissance History, Cambridge, Harvard University Press (forthcoming)
  • “Written in Italian, Heard as Jewish: Reconsidering the Notated Sources of Italian Jewish Music,” in Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy, Ed. Lynette Bowring, Rebecca Cypess, and Liza Malamut, Indiana University Press (forthcoming)
  • “Sounds of Emancipation: Politics, Identity, and Music in 19th-century Italian Synagogues,” The New Italy and the Jews from Massimo D’Azeglio to Primo Levi. Ed. Jonathan Druker and L. Scott Lerner. Spec. issue of Annali d’Italianistica 36/2018: 115-140
  • “Il suono della Melting Pot. I canti sinagogali di Venezia e le registrazioni di Leo Levi (1954-1959),” in Musiche della tradizione ebraica a Venezia. Le registrazioni di Leo Levi (1954-1959), Ed. Piergabriele Mancuso, Roma, Squilibri, 2018: 46-60 [Italian]
  • “The Bimah & The Stage: Synagogue Music and Cultural Production in the Italian Ghettos” in Venice, The Jews, and Europe 1516-2016, Ed. Donatella Calabi, Marsilio, Venice, 2016: 264-269
  • “Italian Jewish Cultural Identity: A Regional Perspective” in Musiche della tradizione ebraica in Piemonte, Ed. Franco Segre, Roma, Squilibri, 2015: 11-44
  • “Unsettling Encounters: Missing Links of European Jewish Experience and Discourse” in Samuel Bronner ed. Framing Jewish Culture: Boundaries and Representations. Jewish Cultural Studies 4/2013: 357-363
  • “Back to Life, Twice. The Revivals of Ladino Song in 20th-century Italy,” Journal of Synagogue Music 38/Fall 2013: 109-120
  • “Music and Synagogue Life” in Italy, Ed. Roni Weinstein, Jerusalem, Ben Zvi Institute, 2012: 143-150 [Hebrew]
  • “’Those Note in Minor Tones…’ Oriental Themes, Liturgical Debates and Musical Icons in 19th-Century Jewish Italy” in Garment and Core. Jews and their Musical Experiences, Ed. E. Avitsur, M. Ritzarev and E. Seroussi, Ramat Gan, Bar-Ilan University Press, 2012: 83-100
  • “Cultural Content and Digital Form, or The Other Way Around? Jewish Collections, Research and the Digital Renaissance” in Testimonianze della cultura ebraica: ricerca, valorizzazione, digitale. Il progetto Judaica Europeana, Proceedings of the international conference, Fermo, Oct. 6-7, Ed. Giuseppe Capriotti and Pierluigi Feliciati, Macerata, EUM Edizioni Università di Macerata, 2011: 249-274
     

Francesco has taught at the University of Milan (Philosophy dept.) and at UC Santa Cruz (Music and Literature depts.), and has lectured and participated in national and international conferences on music, Jewish studies and digital media at academic institutions worldwide, including the universities of Milan, Rome, Padua, the EHESS in Paris, the Hebrew University and Bar-Ilan University, Harvard University, Yale, the University of Virginia, Indiana University, the University of California at Davis, Santa Cruz, UCLA, Ohio State University, San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University, University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee), NYU, the National Library of Israel, as well as the Jewish Culture Festival (Krakow, Poland), the Internet Archive and Creative Commons.

In 1995-1997, Francesco coordinated the activities of Yuval France, a center for the study of Jewish Music at the Alliance Israèlite Universelle in Paris. Upon returning to Italy in 1997, he established “Yuval Italia,” the first Jewish music archives in Italy: initially housed at the Rabbinical School of Milan, the archives were recently transferred to the Italian Center of Jewish Documentation (CDEC).  Between 1998 and 2002, he was responsible for the preservation and publication of Italian Jewish sound recordings at the Ethnomusicology Archives of the National Music Academy in Rome and the National Sound Archives in Jerusalem.

As a radio producer and host, Francesco first produced a weekly program on Jewish music and culture at Radiopopolare, Milan (1997-2002), and later became an anchor for the daily cultural program, Radiotre Suite, broadcast live by RAI (Italian National Radio) from Rome (2001-2003, and again since 2012). In 2002-2003, he reported weekly from Jerusalem for RAI Radiotre. Francesco has also produced and appeared in concerts at music and theater festivals in Italy and the United States.

Francesco’s Dissertation work, The Musical Traditions of the Jews in Piedmont (Italy) (Hebrew University, 2007), based on a multi-disciplinary methodology that combines history, musicology, and ethnographic fieldwork, provided a vivid portrait of synagogue life in Italy during the 18th-20th centuries by intersecting written, oral and archival sources, as well as countless news items from the Italian Jewish press. Through musical lenses, this work addressed synagogue life in all its multifaceted components: liturgy and text, social, intergenerational dynamics and gender roles, aesthetics and architecture, and the politics of identity.

Francesco’s publications include the Italian edition of Imre Toth’s Palimpsest (1998 and 2003), the audio-anthology Italian Jewish Musical Traditions (Hebrew University, 2001 and 2006), three books (Il ballo del camaleonte, 1999; Estetica delle situazioni estreme, 2000; The Jewish World, 2014), and a host of articles and essays on philosophy, music, film and literature in academic journals, books and encyclopedias, including Rivista Italiana di Musicologia, the Encyclopedia Judaica, and the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. He maintains Bella e perduta, a bi-lingual weblog on Italian Jewish music and culture.

In 2007, Francesco became the Director of Research and Collections at the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California, where he created an online integrated (Archive-Library-Museum) database, and several innovative digital programs, including Jewish Digital Narratives, a project involving the online dissemination of cultural heritage collections, storytelling and archiving that combines website and database approaches with social media tools. This work was instrumental in the creation of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, at the University of California, Berkeley, where since 2010 he is Curator of Collections. In this position, he stewarded the development of staff, collection resources, research and teaching programs leveraging the holdings of The Magnes. Under his curatorship, The Magnes acquired, among others, the Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection (2017).

Francesco received a BA (equivalent) in Music from the Conservatory of Milan (1986), a Laurea cum laude in Philosophy (Aesthetics) from the University of Milan with a dissertation on the narrative uses of quotations (1994), and a PhD in Musicology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a dissertation on the music and synagogue life of the Jews in Italy (2007). In 1995-1997, he conducted post-doctoral research at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris), under Jacques Derrida.

Links

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