PROFILE
Dr. Torjman Thomas teaches ethnomusicology and Sephardic Jewish Studies at City University of New York (Hunter College and John Jay College). He is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, oud, nay), vocalist (Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish), founder and artistic director of ASEFA and the New York Andalus Ensemble. He is also a faculty member for both the ALEPH and Academy of Jewish Religion Cantorial Programs, and is director of musical arts at the Sephardic Center in Brooklyn.
Dr. Torjman Thomas researches and performs musics of North Africa, the Middle East and Global Jazz. His scholarship centers on musics of the Middle East and North Africa, worldwide Jewish musics and jazz-based traditions. He is a frequent guest speaker, ḥazzan and facilitator in ecumenical spaces, cultural institutions and music and spiritual retreats worldwide.