Spirituality Week

Originally established as the Judaica Music Rescue Project in 2002 and later renamed Judaica Sound Archives (JSA) in 2005, the JSA has become one of the largest and most extensive collections of Judaic recorded sound in the world. The JSA provides source materials to Judaic scholars around the world and supports FAU’s Judaic Studies program. The collection holds recordings that are considered Jewish, such as: cantorial, Yiddish, Klezmer, Hebrew, and also recordings of Jewish performers, conductors and/or composers.

KCO (Klezmer Company Orchestra) is the professional ensemble-in-residence at Florida Atlantic University Libraries. Aaron Kula, the library's director of music performance and education, founded KCO in 1997 and serves as its music director and accordionist. The only ensemble of its kind at an academic library in the country, KCO takes the library's music from "shelf to stage." KCO and Kula perform educational programs, present interactive workshops for teachers, and offer lectures at FAU, throughout South Florida, and across the country.

Their programming is multicultural and showcases the library’s print music collections. Inspired by Jazz, Blues, Klezmer, Classical, and the Latin rhythms of South Florida, Kula uses the collections as source material for new compositions. The ensemble varies with the orchestrations and programming for each concert. KCO performs its unique blend of ethnic orchestral jazz, as well as music from the classical repertoire. This popular ensemble continues to receive critical acclaim for its innovative musical fusion, appearing before thousands at sold-out concerts.

Its debut CD Beyond the Tribes won "Best Klezmer Album" and "Best Klezmer Song" for 2009 from Just Plain Folks, the world's largest independent music organization. In March 2012 KCO released its latest studio produced album Klezmerology.