Max Stern (DMA ’89)

Stern—composer, performer, conductor, musicologist and educator—pioneers biblical compositions blending contemporary idioms and genres. The Israel Music Institute released his “Retrospective” recording and his “Biblical Wellsprings” CD features works evoking biblical imagination, medieval Jewish poetic inspiration, contemporary realities, educational pieces, and Jewish and Latin-American folksongs.

Stern’s book “The Art of the Music Critic” has been published by Nova Academic Publishers. “It’s based on my reviews as music critic for The Jerusalem Post from 1988-2020," says Stern. “If it were not for my studies at the CU Boulder College of Music, this book would never have been written. It was the coursework I did in American Music with Professor William Kearns—and the academic papers under Professor Karl Kroeger and Professor Richard Toensing—that gave me the skill and background in writing, critical thinking and evaluation to become a music critic.”

Additionally, Stern’s book “In Search of a Sacred Ethos: Articles, Essays and Lectures” reflects his search and research into music as a form of sacred cultural expression. And his publication—“The Speech of the Angels: Thoughts on the Theory of Music A Philosophical Perspective”—explores the meaning of the Theory of Music from a humanistic perspective.

2026 saw the release of “Hallel,” a CD collection of recordings of Stern’s works inspired by the Bible and Jewish tradition.