A guest lecture by Michiko Rolek part of The Secret Chord Project: Exploring the Religious in Popular Music Through the Works of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

Michiko Rolek, the great granddaughter of Sokei-an Sasaki, the first Zen master in the States, will be joining us from California to share her personal experiences and anecdotes about Cohen. As someone who has spent time with Cohen at Mount Baldy Zen Center, Rolek brings a unique perspective on Cohen’s relationship with Zen Buddhism and firsthand reminiscences. She is the author of Mental Fitness.

The Secret Chord Project explores the influence of religious concepts and imagery in popular music, with a particular focus on Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, two of the most influential singer-songwriters of our time. This project brings together leading scholars specializing in Dylan and Cohen, individuals who had personal connections to them, musicians, songwriters, as well as the Director of the internationally recognized Institute for Bob Dylan Studies at the University of Tulsa. These events offer rare opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students across campus communities—as well as Rochester’s broader community—to engage with them and their scholarship.

Sponsored by the Department of Religion & Classics, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Humanities Center, the Arthur Satz Department of Music, the Departmetn of English, the Institute for Popular Music, and the Eastman School of Music.