Mark Kligman

Mark Kligman is the Mickey Katz Professor of Jewish Music and Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He serves as Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience and Academic Chair of the Jewish Music Forum.

His research centers on Jewish liturgical traditions, especially among Middle Eastern communities in Brooklyn, and popular Jewish expressions. His foundational work Maqam and Liturgy: Ritual, Music and Aesthetics of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn (2009) analyzes Syrian Jewish musical-cultural identity, while current projects explore Orthodox Popular music and intersections of contemporary Jewish life with liturgical/paraliturgical contexts.

As Lowell Milken Center Director, he spearheads preservation of American Jewish musical heritage, including collaborations like the Mostly Kosher klezmer performances. He actively shapes academic discourse through co-editing MusicaJudaica and chairing the American Musicological Society's Jewish Studies and Music Group, having previously served on the Association for Jewish Studies board (2014-2016).