Assaf Shelleg

Musicologist and cultural historian

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Musicologist and cultural historian Assaf Shelleg specializes in twentieth- and twenty-first-century music, focusing on art music written by and about Jews. Prior to his appointment at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, he taught at the University of Virginia and Washington University in St. Louis. Shelleg is the author of the award-winning book Jewish Contiguities and the Soundtrack of
Israeli History (Oxford University Press, 2014), Theological Stains: Art Music and the Zionist Project (Oxford University Press, 2020) and, most recently, The State of Afterness: Contemporary Music in and about Israel (Oxford University Press, 2025). Previously the director of the Cherrick Center for the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv, and the State of Israel at the Hebrew University, he has also served as a curator for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and as a music contributor for Haaretz. Shelleg’s new book, Jewish Art Music as Art Music, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press in 2026.