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Abstract Judeo-Spanish Sephardic (“Ladino”) songs have been sung, remembered, composed, and adapted around the Mediterranean, from the late-fifteenth-century expulsions from Iberian lands to festivals of new Ladino songs. This reflective survey explores mythologies around this multi-site, interactive tradition, of which diaspora and re-invention have been defining elements since its inception. Following a brief background, it […] Read More

The Ottoman Empire essentially gave birth to the Eastern Sephardic musical tradition — a richly seasoned stew of Iberian, Turkic, southern European, Mediterranean and Romani ingredients whose appeal extended beyond Europe to the New World. My wife, Ingrid, and I were sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Residence in Istanbul, listening to an Israeli […] Read More