Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Newsletter

Yaron Cherniak

 Cherniak

The Harry C. Sigman Graduate Fellow, 2024–2026

Department: Department of Ethnomusicology

Yaron Cherniak is a PhD Candidate in Ethnomusicology at UCLA, specializing in Jewish liturgical music, Jewish mysticism, and Middle Eastern musical traditions. A specialist in Middle Eastern and maqam-based music, Cherniak is an accomplished composer and multi-instrumentalist, composing scores for films and performing across Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and contemporary Western musical traditions. He holds an M.A. in Musicology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where his research examined the semiotic and subversive roles of music during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and a B.A. in Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. His work bridges performance, composition, and ethnographic research, revealing the religious, ideological, and artistic dimensions of contemporary soundscapes.