Galit Gertsenzon
Assistant Teaching Professor of Honors College
Dr. Galit Gertsenzon is an internationally acclaimed pianist, music historian, and interdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges performance, historical inquiry, and honors pedagogy. She earned her bachelor’s degree in piano performance and musicology and her Master of Arts degree in piano performance from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University. Since 2001, she has performed extensively as a soloist and collaborative pianist across Europe, Israel, and the United States, with a particular focus on twentieth-century repertoire and music suppressed under totalitarian regimes. Her performances frequently highlight the works of Gideon Klein, James Simon, Szymon Laks, Pavel Haas, and Viktor Ullmann. She has appeared at major international venues, including Carnegie Hall and the German Bundestag.
Dr. Gertsenzon earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2012. Her research examines music within its cultural, political, and social contexts, with particular emphasis on World War II, the Holocaust, and music as testimony, resistance, and memory. Her scholarship has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes spanning musicology, Holocaust and Judaic studies, and honors education.
Dr. Gertsenzon teaches globally focused, interdisciplinary courses integrating music, politics, history, and contemporary culture. Her curriculum—including Silenced Voices: Exploring the Music, Art, Film, and Literature of World War II and the Holocaust and An Inquiry in Contemporary American Civilization: Music, Culture, and Society—emphasizes critical listening, creative inquiry, and experiential learning. In 2018 and again in 2024, she received Ball State University’s Honors College Vander Hill Distinguished Honors Educator Award for excellence in teaching and curriculum design.
As a performer, scholar, and educator, Dr. Gertsenzon is committed to preserving musical voices silenced by history and exploring the power of music to illuminate human experience, memory, and identity. More information about her teaching and research can be found at www.galitgertsenzon.com and www.galitpiano.com.
Education:
Doctor of Musical Arts, Piano Performance; University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, Ohio. Dissertation: Gertsenzon, G. (2012, May). Music expressions in times of uncertainty: A study of Gideon Klein's songs Op.1 for voice and piano. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10122.41924
Master of Arts, Piano Performance, Magna Cum Laude. Tel Aviv University, Buchman-Mehta School of Music. Thesis: Gertsenzon, G. (2004). The thematic transformation in selected piano pieces in the 19th Century.
Bachelor of Arts, Piano Performance and Musicology: Te-Aviv University, Buchman-Mehta School of Music.
Selected Publications:
Gertsenzon, G. (2024) "Becoming culturally responsive: Music pedagogies in honors curricula," in G. Harper (Ed.), Advancing Honors Education for Today and Tomorrow. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Gersenzon, G. (2021). Teaching from "Sum Total:" Commemorating the Holocaust through Contemporary Performance. Journal of Performing Arts Leadership in Higher Education, Vol. XII (Fall 2021), pp. 41-57.
Gersenzon, G. (2021). Bridging the interval: Teaching global awareness through music and politics. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring0Summer 2021), pp. 135-167.
Gertsenzon, G. (2020). Gideon Klein's Song Op.1 for high voice and piano. Music and the Holocaust. https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/theresienstadt/klein_gideon/gideon-kleins-songs/
Gertsenzon, G. (2020). Music in the Holocaust as an honors colloquium. Honors in Practice, 16, 15-28. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchchip/317/
Gersenzon, G. (2020, October 18). Music helped a Hoosier survive the Holocaust. It can help us now in the pandemic. Indianapolis Star. https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2020/10/18/op-ed-music-helped-hoosierthrough-holocaust-can-help-pandemic/3570983001
Gertsenzon, G. Musical expression by Jewish imprisoned composers 1938-1944. Gvanim: Journal of the Academy of Jewish Religion. pp. 47-74. https://ajr.edu/teachings/journal/current-volume/