Beverly P. Mortensen is a musician, composer, and scholar of ancient

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. In 2006, she published the book ''The Priesthood in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Renewing the Profession'' (Studies in Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture 4), in which she strongly argues her thesis, that

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Targum Jonathan is a western targum (interpretation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it w ...

is a late 4th-century CE work and is meant as a manual for kohanim, Jewish priests. A scholar of ancient Judaism, the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

s, Aramaic translations of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

and

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

thought. Her courses include Finding God, Dead Sea Scrolls, Moses and David: Tabernacle and Temple, and Wisdom Literature. She is director of the Village Singers, a choral group in Glencoe, Illinois

Life

Mortensen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, BFA in Music and Music Education from Carnegie Mellon University, in 196

Mortensen taught music in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

public schools for two years, directing several choruses there. For 25 years she directed the St. Athanasius church choir in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

. Mortensen is also a prolific composer, who has written hymns, anthems, songs, Masses, and

oratorios An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mu ...

. She has also directed community presentations of Broadway shows. She wrote and directed original musicals for schools and community groups in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area. She was director of the Starlight Chorale in the Wallace Bowl at Gillson Park in

Wilmette, Illinois Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...

. In the early 1970s, she was a professional folk singer. Later, she did a PhD program in early Judaism at

, earning her degree in 1995. She teaches there, as an adjunct professor, classes on the Hebrew Bible and Contemporary Religion. She also edits the twice yearly bibliography ''Newsletter for Targumic and Cognate Studies''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mortensen, Beverly Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Northwestern University alumni American theologians American religion academics