Matthew Austerklein is an American-trained cantor completing his PhD in Jewish Studies at Halle-Wittenberg University in Germany, where is been advised by Dr. Diana Matut and Dr. Edwin Seroussi. His research focuses on the musical professionalization of the Ashkenazic cantorate in early modern Europe, but encompasses a broad interest in cantorial history and the intersections of Judaism and classical music.
Austerklein is the editor of three books, including the 75th Anniversary Journal of the Cantors Assembly, a broad documentation of living cantors and historical retrospective on the evolution of the American cantorate. He has also, together with Dr. Jeremiah Lockwood, helped to create the Cantorial & Synagogue Music Archive, an digital repository for Ashkenazi cantorial manuscripts. Austerklein has served on the Executive of the European Cantors Association and many leadership positions within the Cantors Assembly, from whom he received the 2022 Samuel Rosenbaum Award for Creativity & Scholarship. He has served on the faculty for several cantorial schools and lectured on Jewish music for dozens of institutions worldwide. He also is the recipient of fellowships from the Hadar Institute, Yiddish Book Center, Tikvah Fund, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk, and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies.
Austerklein combines his pursuits as an academic and writer with the congregational cantorate. He currently serves as the Cantor of Temple Beth El in Rochester, NY.
