“Ladino is a bridge to many cultures. It is a variety of Spanish that has absorbed words and expressions from many languages, most notably Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, Greek, and French. The mother tongue of Jews in the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, Ladino became the home language of Sephardim worldwide. While the number of Ladino speakers has sharply declined, distinguished Ladino Day programs like this one celebrate and preserve a vibrant language and heritage for future generations.”
-www. Americansephardi.org
Join us for this very special song school class where we welcome Sarah Aroeste to share songs from the Ladino Tradition!
Please bring a journal and pencil so that you may keep a record of the songs you learn. Bring a drum or rattle if you have one. All singing levels are welcome.
Please arrive 5 minutes early so we may start on time:)
Donations are welcome but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
TEACHERS BIO
Sarah Aroeste
Determined to help bring Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) culture to a new generation, Sarah Aroeste, an international Ladino singer/songwriter, author and cultural activist, draws upon her Sephardic family roots from Greece and Macedonia (via Medieval Spain) to present traditional and original Ladino songs with her unique blend of rock, pop, and jazz. Since 2001, Aroeste has toured the globe and recorded five albums, A la Una: In the Beginning (2003), Puertas (2007), Gracia (2012), Ora de Despertar (2016), the first-ever all-original Ladino children’s album, and Together/Endjuntos (2017) the first bilingual Ladino/English holiday album. In 2014 Aroeste won the Sephardic prize at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam, and in 2015 she represented the USA in the International Sephardic Music Festival in Cordoba, Spain. Her forthcoming book for children, Buen shabat, Shabbat Shalom (Kar-Ben), will be published March 2020. Bringing Ladino music and culture to young and old, Aroeste has garnered wide critical acclaim for her efforts to introduce the language to wider audiences. For more: www.saraharoeste.com