Conference presentations

2009 Tel Aviv, Israel: “XIV International Research Conference of LAJSA: Latin American Jewish Experiences through Plural Lenses” (LAJSA/Tel Aviv University). Paper presented:  ‘Falafel and Salsa’:  A comparison between Israeli Muzika Mizrahit and Salsa Music.

2011 London, UK:  “Art Musics of Israel: Identities, Ideologies, Influences” (JMI/SOAS, University of London). Participation in round table panel: Crossing Cultures: Musical Encounters. 

2012 Hamburg, Germany:   “Interkulturelles Abenteuer: Musik in Israel – Sounds of Israel symposium” (Elbphilharmonie/ Bucerius Kunst Forum). Paper presented:  The role of the media in the popular music scene in Israel. 

2013 Jerusalem, Israel: “Cuba – Myth and Reality: Culture, History, Politics”  (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). Paper presented: Music, identity, and social change in Cuba during the Special Period. 

2013 Paris, France: “Body and Voice. Rethinking Politics through Musical and Choreographic Practices” (Ethnomusika/ Cité de la Musique, Paris, France). Paper presented: The liberation, sensualization and colonization of ‘the Gay Cuban dancing body.’

2013 London, UK: “Love and Sentimentalism in Popular Music – International symposium” (Royal Holloway, University of London). Paper presented: ‘I am Bolero!’: Queer appropriation and identification of gay men in Cuba with Bolero music. 

2014 Tel Aviv, Israel: “Entre-Mundos”: encuentro regional LAJSA [Latin American Jewish Studies Association] en Israel” (Tel Aviv University, Israel). Paper presented: Illegal Latino labor migrants in Israel and the “Salsa factor”:  group identity, self esteem, and social absorption via music. 

2014 Limerick, Ireland: “In the Frame? Public and Political Discourses of Migration”.    (University of Limerick, Ireland). Paper presented: Salsa music as a unifying and “legitimising” discourse among undocumented Latino labour migrants in Israel. 

2014  Pittsburgh, USA: SEM, Society for Ethnomusicology annual conference. Paper presented: Music as a space for identity, interaction, and escapism, among gay  men in Special-Period Havana. 

 2015  Jerusalem, Israel: LAJSA, Regional conference. Paper presented: Between Klezmer and Salsa:  Latino-Jewish musical collaborations in the USA. 

2015 Jerusalem, Israel:  “Rethinking Central America and the Caribbean in Israel: Challenging Debates, Challenging Perspectives” (Truman Institute, the Hebrew University). Paper presented: Spirit possession and music in Afro-Cuban Santería. 

2015 Paris, France: SFE/BFE (ethnomusicology societies) joint annual conference. Paper presented: “Silsulim” (improvised ‘curls’) in the vocal performance of Israeli “oriental” music: Crossing the nationalistic border, maintaining the cultural boundaries. 

2015  Haifa, Israel: “Meeting Point” Seminar,  Haifa University. Lecture given: Music as a means of communication and channeling in Africa and in the African Diaspora. 

2015 Austin, Texas: SEM, Society for Ethnomusicology annual conference. Paper presented: Music, possession, and homosexuality: gay men in Afro-Cuban Santería ritual performance. 

2016 Jerusalem, Israel: Hebrew University, Truman Institute. Book presentation: Fiesta de diez pesos: Music and Gay Identity in Special Period Cuba, by Moshe Morad. 

2016 Tel Aviv, Israel. “La judeidad latinoamericana en perspectiva multidisciplinaria”, LAJSA regional conference. Book presentation: Mazal Tov Amigos! Jews and popular music in the Americas, edited by Amalia Ran and Moshe Morad. 

2016 Kent, UK: British Forum for Ethnomusicology annual conference. Paper presented: Tourists, music and gay identity in Special-Period Cuba 

2016 New York, USA: AJHS, American Jewish Historical Society annual conference. Paper presented: Jewish divas as gay icons: Jewishness and queerness in American culture as represented by Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Cuban Olga Guillot. 

2016 New York, USA: AAWM, Analytical Approaches to World Music annual conference. Paper presented: Queer Bolero: Bolero music as an emotional space for gay men in Special Period Cuba.

2016 Tel Aviv, Israel: Africa Tribune Seminar. Paper presented: Gender and sexuality in the ritual music of the Yoruba.

2016 Washington, USA: SEM, Society for Ethnomusicology annual conference. Participation in round table session: Fielding gender and sexuality in music research.

2018 New York, USA: Musicology in the Age of (Post)Globalization (CUNY). Paper presented: ‘Oriental/Mediterranean’ music: postglobalization, trans-ethnicity, and political power.

2018 Maynooth, Ireland: “Queerness, Voice, Embodiment” (LGBTQ+ Music Study Group Symposium). Paper presented: The ‘Queer Cuban Dancing Body’: resistance, liberation, and recolonization.

2018 Albuquerque, USA: SEM, Society for Ethnomusicology annual conference. Paper presented: Queering the melismatic pitch: Arab-influenced ‘Oriental’ music in the israeli LGBTQ scene.

2019 Bangkok, Thailand: ICTM annual conference. Paper presented: Music and/as identity among undocumented labor migrants and asylum seekers in Israel.

2020 Virtual: SEM, Society for Ethnomusicology. Paper presented: From ‘Diva’ to ‘Golden Boy’ to ‘Toy’: National, Transnational, and LGBTQPolitics in Israel’s ‘Eurovision-ism’.

2022 Lisbon, Portugal/Hybrid: ICTM annual conference. Paper presented: Queering Mediterranean Music Traditions: The Regendering and Fluidification of Performance and Space in Neo-Traditional Music.

2023 New York, USA: AIS, the Asociation for Israel Studies. Paper presented: “Out of Two Closets”: Muzika Mizrahit, Queer Identity and Intersectionality in Israel`s LGBTQ Scene

2024 Bologna, Italy: AAWM, Analytical Approaches to World Music International Biennial  Conference. Paper presented: Timbre and “Silsulim” in the Vocal Performance of  Israeli Muzika Mizrahit: Social Identity, Power and Politics.

2024 Bologna, Italy: AAWM, Analytical Approaches to World Music International Biennial  Conference. Chair, panel: Music in Film and Theatre.

Committee participation

2017 Denver, USA: SEM, Society of Ethnomusicology annual conference. Member of program committee.

2017 Denver, USA: SEM, Society of Ethnomusicology annual conference. Chair of Marcia Herndon Book Prize committee.

2018 Albuquerque, USA: SEM, Society of Ethnomusicology annual conference. Chair of Marcia Herndon Book Prize committee.

2019 Indiana, USA: SEM, Society of Ethnomusicology annual conference. Member  of Marcia Herndon Book Prize committee.

2019 Indiana, USA: SEM, Society of Ethnomusicology annual conference. Member  of Jewish Music SIG Book Prize committee.

Since  2019: Chair of ICTMD Israeli National Committee.

Since 2019: Editorial board member, SOAS Studies in Music series, Routledge

Publications

 Journal articles:

2005 “Salsa & Falafel: Music & Identity among Illegal Latino Immigrants in Israel”, in Polyvocia /SOAS Journal of Graduate Research, University of London Vol 1.

2008 “‘Invertidos’ in Afro-Cuban Religion”, in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Harvard USA.

2015 “Queer Bolero: Bolero Music as an Emotional and Psychological Space for Gay Men in Cuba”, in Psychology Research, Volume 5, Number 10, October 2015 (Serial Number 52).

2016: “Queering the Macho Grip: Transgressing and Subverting Gender in Latino Music and Dance as Means of Creating a Gay Space”, in Ethnologie Française, France.

2017 “The Action is at the Cuban Ballet”, in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Harvard USA.

 Selected press articles:

2007 “The Secret of Cuban Tobacco”, in G magazine/Globes, Israel (in Hebrew).

2007 “Cuba Libre” (about gay life in Cuba), in Attitude, UK.

2008 “The Voice of Peace from Baghdad” (about Iraqi musician Ilham Al Madfai), in Haaretz, Israel (in Hebrew).

2009 “Castro’s Pride” (an article and an interview with Dr. Mariela Castro), in 7 days/Yediot Aharonot, Israel (in Hebrew).

Book reviews:

2009 “Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures” by Sujatha Fernandes (Duke University Press). In Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe.

2011 “Babylon East:  Performing Dancehall, Roots Reggae, and Rastafari in Japan” by Marvin Sterling (Duke University Press).  In Ethnic and Racial Studies.

2015 “Listening in Detail to Cuban Music: Performances of Cuban Music” by Alexandra T. Vazquez (Duke University Press).  In Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe.

2016 “Performing Afro-Cuba: Image, Voice, Spectacle in the Making of Race and History” by Kristina Wirtz (University of Chicago Press). In Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe.

2017 “Roll Over, Tchaikovsky!: Russian Popular Music and Post-Soviet Homosexuality” by Stephen Amico (University of Illinois Press). In The World of Music (New Series).

 2017 “Latin Numbers: Playing Latino in Twentieth-Century U.S. Popular Performance” by Brian Eugenio Herrera. In Ethnomusicology Forum 26:1

2018 “Negro Soy Yo: Hip Hop and Raced Citizenship in Neoliberal Cuba” by Marc D. Perry (Duke University Press). In Ethnic and Racial Studies.

2018  “Argentine Queer Tango: Dance and Sexuality Politics in Buenos Aires (Music, Culture, and Identity in Latin America)” by Mercedes Liska (Lexington Books). In Latin American Music Review.

2021 “Roots in Reverse: Senegalese Afro-Cuban Music and Tropical Cosmopolitanism” by Richard M. Shain. In Ethnomusicology 65:3

Chapters in books:

2012 “Music of the Underdog: Sociological and Musical Similarities between Muzika Mizrahit and Salsa”, in Returning to Babel: Jewish Latin American Experiences,   Representations, and Identity, edited by Amalia Ran and Jean Axelrad Cahan (Brill Press).

2016 “Queer Jewish Divas: Jewishness and Queerness in the Life and Performance of Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Olga Guillot”, in Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas, edited by Amalia Ran and Moshe Morad (Brill Press).

2016  “The ‘Salsa Factor’:  Music as Identity among Undocumented Latino Labour Migrants in Israel”, in Public and Political Discourses of Migration International Perspectives, edited by Amanda Haynes, Martin J. Power, Eoin Devereux, Aileen Dillane and James Carr (Rowman and Littlefield).

2019 “Queer Fieldwork in a Queer Field under Surveillance: Musical Spaces in Cuba’s Gay ambiente”, in Queering the Field: Sounding Out Ethnomusicology, edited by Gregory Barz and William Cheng. (Oxford University Press).

2020 “‘Silsulim’ (improvised ‘curls’) in the vocal performance of Israeli popular music:  identity, power and politics”, in Playing for Keeps: Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice, edited by Daniel Fischlin and Eric Porter. (Duke University Press).

Books:

2015 Fiesta de Diez Pesos: Music and Gay Identity in Special Period Cuba (Monograph). Winner of an honorable mention, Alan Merriam Prize 2015, Society of Ethnomusicology. Winner of the Marcia Herndon Book Prize 2016, Society of Ethnomusicology. (Routledge)

2016 Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas, Co-edited with Dr. Amalia Ran. Winner of the Jewish Music SIG Book Award 2018, Society of Ethnomusicology. (Brill Press).

2019 London Calling: Encounters with Musical Heroes of the ’80s.  (In Hebrew. Marom Books)