Jewish music and the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry will be the themes of the 58th Annual Wisconsin Institute of Judaism Aug. 9-12. The institute, which combines Jewish learning with recreational opportunities, will meet at the Perlstein Resort & Conference Center in Lake Delton, WI.

This year’s featured scholars are Hazzan Dr. Ramón Tasat, president of Shalshelet: The Foundation for New Jewish Liturgical Music; and Dr. Norman Roth, professor emeritus in the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Roth has written extensively on the history, literature and philosophy of the Jews of medieval Spain for journals such as Sefarad, Speculum and AJS Review, and in Spanish in Ciudad de Dios, Anuario de Historia del Derecho Españo, and Anthologica Annua. He is the author most recently of the expanded paper edition of “Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain”  as well as “Daily Life of the Jews in the Middle Ages.”

He will present “A Brief Historical Overview & Introduction to Jewish Culture in Spain,” “Bible, Poetry, Literature and Philosophy in the Golden Age” and “The Heavy Stuff: Medicine, Science and Mathematics.”

Tasat, a native of Buenos Aires, earned a doctoral degree in voice performance from the University of Texas at Austin. He has performed in international festivals both in Europe and America, appeared live on television and radio and released several recordings. He has written  two books,  “Cantata Ebraica: Jewish Melodies from Italy” and “Sephardic Songs for All.” Tasat  serves as cantor of Temple Shalom in Washington, DC.

The cantor will discuss “Music and Spirituality in the 21st Century,” “Jewish Music from Generation to Generation” and “Zemirot & Pyutim (Hymns and Liturgical Poems).” He also will perform a Saturday evening recital.

Shalshelet is an international organization that promotes the writing and use of new Jewish liturgical music. Tasat’s participation in the institute is one of a series of programs leading up to the Third International Jewish Festival of New Jewish Liturgical Music to be held in Milwaukee in June 2008. The Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning, Inc., is cosponsoring the Festival as well as the 58th annual institute. The Helen Bader Foundation is providing financial support for the Festival.

For more information on the institute, including prices and how to register, see www.wijudaism.org, or contact Stu Dolnick, (920) 830-6716 or WIJudaism@aol.com, or the WSJL, (414) 963-4135 or www.wsjl.org.