Mission & History
The Milken Archive was founded in 1990 when Lowell Milken perceived an opportunity to preserve and disseminate a body of music that had helped shape the American Jewish experience. After assembling an editorial board comprising experts from diverse fields, the Archive commenced recording a collection currently comprising over 600 pieces of music by roughly 200 composers.
Along with the recordings, the Milken Archive has documented the history of Jewish music in America through more than 180 oral histories with composers, cantors, educators, and performers, and invested heavily in the creation of comprehensive essays and liner notes that examine the cultural and historical contexts in which this music has been created.
The Milken Archive’s mission is threefold: (1) to preserve Jewish musical history for current and future generations; (2) to disseminate and provide access to that history to a broad audience; and (3) to support and encourage the development of research and educational materials that will foster a broader understanding of the artistic, historical, social, and cultural forces at play in the world of Jewish music.
