PROGRAM – May 15, 2024

LIVE AT THE MILLENNIUM STAGE

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Livestreamed Worldwide

Wednesday, May 15 at 6 pm ET

TONIGHT’S PROGRAM (PDF)

Below are extended descriptions for this evening’s event, including lyrics (English, Ladino, Spanish, Arabic, or Hebrew) and artists’ biographies. Enjoy!

Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars
  1. Ekhod Mi Yodea

Singer Sarah Gordon took a traditional melody collected by the great Jewish ethnomusicologist, Moshe Beregovski, and wrote her own Yiddish words to it. It is a thoughtful & playful update of the Passover game song, Who Knows One?

  1. Wedding In Crown Heights

A rocking traditional hasidic nigin (spiritual melody), this piece is often played at weddings, and sometimes sung, either wordlessly, or to the text “L’chu Neranena”, or others. The band gets to stretch out on this one.

  1. Shabbos in Feld

Composed by the great hasidic Yiddish songwriter, Yom Tov Ehrlich, and set to a driving melody. This song tells of how all the different animals in the field celebrate the joyful Shabbos (Sabbath).

Susana Behar
  1. Anderleto – Sarajevo, Bosnia; Arranged by Jose Luis de la Paz and Susana Behar

This romance, very popular in the Sephardic ‘romansero’, is based on an episode from the French epics in which the king Chilperico discovers his wife Fredegunda’s infidelity when, mistaking her husband for her lover Landarise (Anderleto in this version), speaks about her adulterous love, with endearing words about her lover and the children she bore him. When she realizes the king has heard her, she asks for forgiveness, which he grants… “Kon la espada en la mi mano (with a sword in my hand) I un yardan kolorado (and a red necklace on your neck).”

LYRICS IN LADINO

ANDERLETO, MI ANDERLETO
MI KERIDO I ENAMORADO…..Ay!

MAS TE KERO I MAS TE AMO
KE AL REY KON SU REYNADO…..Ay! (2)

DOS IJIKOS DE TI TENGO
I DOS DEL REY KE SON KUATRO…..Ay! (2)

LOS DEL REY, TENEN KAVAYOS
MA LOS TUYOS SON EN MIS BRASOS….Ay! (2)

EYA KE ABOLTO LA KARA
AL REY YA VIDO A SU LADO….Ay! (2)

SENYOR REY….PARDON, PARDON
KE UN ESFUINYO ME A SONYADO….Ay! (2)

REYNA MIA, YO LA PARDONO
KON LA ESPADA EN LA MI MANO….Ay! (2) I UN YARDAN KOLORADO…

LYRICS IN ENGLISH

Anderleto, my Anderleto My dear, my love…Ay! (2)

I love you more than I love
the king and his kingdom…Ay! (2)

Two liTTle sons I’ve had with you
And two with the king, that makes four…Ay! (2)

Those of the king, they have horses And yours, are in my arms…Ay! (2)

Then she turns her head
And sees that the king is next to her…Ay! (2)

My lord, my king, forgive, forgive me I was just dreaming a dream…Ay! (2)

My queen..I forgive you
With the sword in my hand…Ay!! And a red necklace on you neck 

  1. Ya Salio de la Mar, Alboreá Gitana, Ashugar de Novia Galana – Salonica, Greece; Andalusía, Spain; Sofia, Bulgaria. Arranged by Jose luis de la Paz and Susana Behar

For this piece, we have combined two Sephardic wedding songs with the Alboreá, a flamenco style that is sung at the Gypsy weddings and praises the beauty of the bride. ‘Ya salio de la mar’, in its many versions, refers to the ritual bath, customary for the Jewish bride before her wedding. Here, some of its verses which express good wishes in poetic metaphors, have been set to the melody of ‘Ashugar de novia galana’, another Sephardic wedding song. 

LYRICS IN LADINO / SPANISH

YA SALIO DE LA MAR LA GALANA

KON UN VESTIDO HALIS BLANKO 

YA SALIO DE LA MAR (2)

LA ESPOSIKA ESTA EN EL BANYO 

I EL NOVIO LA’STA ASPERANDO 

YA SALIO DE LA MAR (2)

BONITA ES LA NOVIA
QUE MERECE UN TRONO (2)
CORONA DE BRILLANTES
CON PERLAS Y ORO (2)
Y ALEVANTATE Y NO DUERMAS MAS (2) 

QUE POR LA MAÑANITA TENDRA LUGAR

TENDRA LUGAR, TENDRA LUGAR..

ASHUGAR DE NOVIA GALANA (2) 

AMAN, MAZAL YA LE MANDAN 

ENBUENORA
ENBUENORA SE ODRENO LA BODA 

ESTA I OTRAS

ENTRE LA MAR I LA ARENA (2) 

MOS KRESIO UN ARVOL DE KANELA 

AY GALANA ECHATE A LA MAR 

ECHATE A LA MAR I ALKANSA
AY GALANA ECHATE A LA MAR

ENTRE LA MAR I EL RIO (2)
MOS KRESIO UN ARVOL DE MEMBRIYO

AY GALANA ECHATE A LA MAR

ECHATE A LA MAR I ALKANSA
AY, GALANA ECHATE A LA MAR.. (3)

Y YELI, YELI, YELI 

Y YELI YELI YA (4)

LYRICS IN ENGLISH

THE YOUNG BRIDE HAS ALREADY COME OUT OF THE SEA (2) 

WITH A PURE WHITE DRESS
SHE ALREADY CAME OUT OF THE SEA (2)

THE WIFE IS IN THE BATH (2)
AND THE GROOM IS WAITING FOR HER

SHE ALREADY CAME OUT OF THE SEA (2)

PRETTY IS THE BRIDE
WHO DESERVES A THRONE (2) 

CROWN OF DIAMONDS

WITH PEARLS AND GOLD (2)
GET UP AND DON’T SLEEP ANY MORE (2) 

FOR IN THE MORNING IT WILL TAKE PLACE, 

IT WILL TAKE PLACE, IT WILL TAKE PLACE…

THE TROUSSEAU OF THE YOUNG BRIDE (2) THEY’RE ALREADY SENDING HER GOOD WISHES CONGRATULATIONS!
IN GOOD TIMES THE WEDDING WAS MADE THIS AND OTHERS!

BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE RIVER (2) A QUINCE TREE STARTED GROWING OH YOUNG BRIDE
GET IN THE OCEAN

GET IN THE OCEAN, GET THERE!
OH YOUNG BRIDE, GET IN THE OCEAN (3)

Y YELI, YELI, YELI 

Y YELI YELI YA (4) 

  1. Gülpembe – Turkey; Arranged by Jose Luis de la Paz and Susana Behar

In this love song, we find a very good example of the development of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) language through the centuries, and how the Sephardim incorporated words from the languages spoken in the lands where they lived and thrived. The refrain, in its totality, is sung in Turkish.
Aman, Aman gülpembe (Oh my, Oh my, pink rose)
Ne bo guzelik sende (how beautiful you are!) 

LYRICS IN LADINO

Por la tu puerta yo pasi Yo la topi serrada
La yave dura yo bezi Komo bezar las tus karas

Aman, Aman** Gülpembe,

Ne bu güzellik sende

No te nyeges ke te bezi

Te tengo i abrasado
Komo el dukado en el sarraf

Te tengo kulaneado

Aman, Aman, Gülpembe, 

Ne bu güzellik sende

Ojos pretos benes tu 

Por los mavis me muero 

Kuando veo los verduliz

Kavo foya i m’enterro 

Aman, Aman, Gülpembe,

Ne bu güzellik sende

Por la tu puerta yo pasi 

Yo la topi serrada
La yave dura yo bezi 

Komo bezar las tus karas

Aman, Aman, Gülpembe, 

Ne bu güzellik sende

LYRICS IN ENGLISH

I went by your door and I found it closed
I kissed the lock
as if kissing your cheek.
Oh my, oh my, pink rose
How beautiful you are!
Don’t deny that I kissed you
I’ve even hugged you
Like the coin at the goldsmith’s
I’ve used you
Oh my, oh my, pink rose
How beautiful you are!
You have black eyes
I’d die for the blue ones
when I see green ones
I dig a grave and bury myself!
Oh my, oh my, pink rose
How beautiful you are!
I went by your door
and found it closed
I kissed the lock
as if I kissed your cheek.

*Gülpembe literally means pink rose but can also be used as a woman’s name
*Aman, Aman is a popular expression in many Middle Eastern countries, having different meanings depending on the situation

Yoni Avi Battat and Yosef Goldman
  1. Adon Olam

Adon Olam (Master of All Eternity) is one of the oldest known piyyutim, and is still used broadly in liturgy across Jewish communities. Beloved for centuries, it serves as a declaration of faith in the Creator of the world and expresses a sense of natural, emotional closeness to the Divine. Of unknown authorship, the poem first appeared in prayer books in the 13th Century. Its Arabic meter suggests it was composed during the Middle Ages, likely in Spain or Italy.

Adon Olam was traditionally recited on Yom Kippur eve during the Middle Ages and over time, it came to be used at various other times as well. It has become such a central piece of liturgy that many prayer books open the morning prayers with it, prompting Jews to recite it first thing in the morning before daybreak. Many Ashkenazi communities conclude the Friday evening prayer service with this poem. It is also recited in the middle of night on Shabbat in the baqashot service of multiple Sephardic communities. Its connection to the nighttime hours is evidenced by the line “In God’s hand I entrust my spirit at the time of sleep and I will awaken,” which is also part of the bedtime Shema.

Kedmah’s recording includes 5 additional lines that may be unfamiliar to listeners who use Ashkenazi prayer books. These lines have appeared in Sephardic prayer books for hundreds of years, though they are likely a later addition to the piyyut and were not written by the original author.

This melody comes from the Arab mawashah repertoire – a composed vocal form based on an ancient Andalusian poetry tradition by the same name. This genre has developed an elaborate performance practice throughout the Arab world, and some of the melodies have continued to hold a place in Arab folklore, even today. This particular song يا صاح الصبر وهى مني  (Ya Sahi as-Sabru Waha Minni) was recorded famously by the iconic Syrian master singer Sabah Fakhri. Our rendering takes inspiration from Fakhri, adapting the melodic structure to be more cyclical and conducive for group singing. 

This melody has been used for generations by Middle Eastern Jews for a variety of liturgical texts besides Adon Olam – especially for Kabbalat Shabbat because it utilizes the maqam Nawa, which is the quintessential musical mode for Kabbalat Shabbat. Our teacher Roni reminds us this by cheekily referencing Psalm 93, the final words of Kabbalat Shabbat:

“עֵדֹתֶיךָ נֶאֶמְנוּ מְאֹד לְבֵיתְךָ נַאֲוָה־קֹדֶשׁ יְהוָה לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים׃” 

In doing so, he recontextualizes the word “naava” נַאֲוָה as the name of the maqam Nawa, with tongue in cheek, as if to say, “in Your abode, Nawa is sacred.” emphasizing the mode’s central place in the soundscape of our Friday night traditions.

Adon Olam is the opening track of Simu Lev, the debut album from Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project. Led by Rabbi Yosef Goldman and Yoni Avi Battat, Kedmah excavates the power and beauty of Mizrahi Jewish expression through ancient poetry and song. Kedmah is an initiative or Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, cultivating Jewish spiritual life through song.

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ בְּטֶרֶם כָּל יְצִיר נִבְרָא

לְעֵת נַעְשָׂה בְחֶפְצוֹ כֹּל אֲזַי מֶלֶךְ שְׁמוֹ נִקְרָא

וְאַחְרֵי כִּכְלוֹת הַכֹּל לְבַדּוֹ יִמְלֹךְ נוֹרָא

וְהוּא הָיָה וְהוּא הֹוֶה וְהוּא יִהְיֶה בְּתִפְאָרָה

וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי לְהַמְשִׁילוֹ וּלְהַחְבִּירָה

בְּלִי רֵאשִׁית בְּלִי תַכְלִית וְלוֹ הָעֹז וְהַמִּשְׂרָה

בְּלִי עֵרֶךְ בְּלִי דִמְיוֹן בְּלִי שִׁנּוּי וּתְמוּרָה

בְּלִי חִבּוּר בְּלִי פֵרוּד גְּדָל כֹּחַ וּגְבוּרָה

וְהוּא אֵלִי וְחַי גּוֹאֲלִי וְצוּר חֶבְלִי בְּיוֹם צָרָה

וְהוּא נִסִּי וּמָנוּסִי מְנָת כּוֹסִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא

וְהוּא רוֹפֵא וְהוּא מַרְפֵּא וְהוּא צוֹפֶה וְהוּא עֶזְרָה

בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי בְּעֵת אִישַׁן וְאָעִירָה

וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי אֲדֹנָי לִי וְלֹא אִירָא

בְּמִקְדָשׁוֹ תָּגֵל נַפְשִׁי מְשִׁיחֵנוּ יִשְׁלַח מְהֵרָה

וְאָז נָשִׁיר בְּבֵית קָדְשִׁי אָמֵן אָמֵן שֵׁם הַנּוֹרָא

LYRICS IN ENGLISH

Master of all eternity, whose reign began before Creation came to be,

Ever since You formed all life in Your will every being sings of Your sovereignty. 

When all things will cease to be, You alone will remain, 

You were, You are, and You will exist in infinite splendor,

You are One — there is no other, matchless in your glory

With no beginning and never ending, Strength and dominion are Yours.

Beyond imagination, beyond measure, Unchanging and beyond compare. 

Singular, utterly whole, and indivisible wondrous in your might and power. 

You are my God, my living Redeemer, my Rock in times of distress.

You are my banner, my refuge, my cup of sustenance when I cry out.

You are the healer, and the remedy, you keep watch, you are my help.

In Your hands, I entrust my spirit, as I sleep and when I awaken.

With my breath, my soul resides, my Lord is with me, I shall not fear.

In Your sanctuary, my soul will exult, for You will soon send our redeemer 

Then we will sing in the holy abode—Amen, amen—the awesome Name. 

Translated by Yosef Goldman

  1. From the Fragments

Anwar Sha’ul was an Iraqi-Jewish journalist, author, and poet. Born in 1904, he remained in Baghdad until 1971, long after the vast majority of Jews left. In 1969, he represented Iraq at the international conference of Arab writers, where he recited a poem expressing his love for Iraq and his connection with Arab culture. An excerpt from his poem comprises the text of the mawwal, vocal improvisation, that sets up the next piece.

فعلى الفرات طفولتي قد أزهرت

وبدجلة نهل الشباب الريق

قلبي بحب بني العروبة يخفق 

وفمي بضادهم يشيد وينطق

أولست منهم منبتا وأرومة

قد ضمنا الماضي البعيد الاوثق

ربطت مصائرنا الحياة بموطن

هو ماؤنا وهواؤنا والرونق

LYRICS IN ENGLISH

My childhood blossomed on the waters of the Euphrates, 

And the days of my youth drank of the Tigris

My heart beats with love of the Arabs, 

My mouth proudly speaks their language

Do not they and I share a common source?

The distant past drew us together

Our fates have been bound together in a radiant homeland 

Which is like water and air to us.

Translated by Reuven Snir

The following song is the title track of Yoni Avi Battat’s debut album, Fragments. Inspired by traditional Arab musical forms, Fragments combines Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Yiddish lyrics to express the fragmenting effects of migration, lost languages, colonialism, assimilation, and erasure. The Arabic bridge of the song takes its text from Iraqi-Jewish novelist, Samir Naqash.

From the fragments of forgetting, I may never find truth

From the fragments of translation, I may fumble for words

From the fragments of migration, I may never find home

From the fragments of the searching, I am finding myself

From the fragments of the journey, I am finding my way

From the fragments of the dreaming, I am finding a prayer

May I know my worth

May I find belonging

May I feel the way I flow from past, I flow to future

ونحن، شتات يتجاذبه طرفا الفصام. انتماء ولا انتماء

(And we are fragments being pulled by the two sides of the split: belonging and unbelonging.)

Translated by Lital Levy

From the fragments of the stories, I can hear what’s unsaid

From the fragments of the struggle, I can know my own strength

From the fragments of the voices, I can sing my own song — I’m singing my song

  1. Dim’ati (“My Tears”)

Words: Psalms 56:9 

Music: Annie Lewis & Yosef Goldman

 נֹדִי סָפַרְתָּה אָתָּה.

שִׂימָה דִמְעָתִי בְנֹאדֶךָ,

הֲלֹא בְּסִפְרָתֶךָ׃

 

Nodi safartah atah.
simah dim’ati ve-nodekha,
ha-lo be-sifratekha.

You keep count of my wanderings; 
put my tears into Your flask, 
into Your record book.

This verse captures a hope and prayer that there is meaning in our suffering, that God is with us listening even when we feel most alone. The cries of the oppressed are noted and remembered by God. It is on us, as we emulate God, to bear witness to the pain and tears of our siblings and neighbors and to pursue justice. Rabbinic literature links God’s flask of tears to the Biblical figure Hagar, exiled in the desert with a skin of water with her child, Ishmael, whose cries God hears. When humanity suffers, God too suffers alongside us, weeping beside us in our wanderings and finding comfort in accompanying us as we shed our tears. To paraphrase Emma Lazarus, “God can never be fully free until we are all free.”

All Ensembles Together

    10. Adio Kerida

This song, a staple on the Sephardic music repertoire, talks about an unrequited love and a bitter farewell. It has sometimes been interpreted as a cry from the Sephardic diaspora to the lands that had rejected and expelled them. It has been said that the melody comes from the legendary Addio del Passato, from Verdi’s 1853 Opera, La Traviata. In our arrangement we have changed the rhythm to a ‘buleria’, adding an air of pride instead of a lament, giving strength to the character of the text.

TU MADRE KUANDO TE PARIO 

I TE KITO AL MUNDO

KORASON EYA NO TE DIO

PARA AMAR SEGUNDO

ADIO, ADIO KERIDA

NO KERO LA VIDA 

ME LA AMARGATES TU

VA BUSHKA OTRO AMOR

AHARVA OTRAS PUERTAS

ASPERA OTRO ARDOR

KE PARA MI SOS MUERTA

ADIO, ADIO KERIDA

NO KERO LA VIDA 

ME LA AMARGATES TU..

 

English Translation

Goodbye beloved

When your mother gave birth to you

And brought you into this world

She did not give you a heart

To love anyone at all

Goodbye, goodbye beloved

I don’t want this life 

You have embittered it for me

Go find another love

Knock on other doors

Wait for another burning (passion)

Because for me, you are dead!

Goodbye, goodbye beloved 

I don’t want this life 

You have embittered it for me

    11. Ya’alah Ya’alah

Ya’alah Ya’alah is a piyyut (devotional poem) by writer and kabbalist Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th C.). It is a love song between a lover and beloved (called here a ya’alah – an ibex or doe) inspired by the metaphor of the love between God and the people of Israel in the Song of Songs. The repeated chorus invites the beloved into a magical garden where the pomegranate trees are budding, and the vines are flowering. This text is sung to countless melodies from across the full range of Jewish musical traditions. This particular melody comes from a Moroccan folk song whose original Arabic words translate to “Don’t forget me, oh beautiful one. I am a stranger in a strange place.”

Ya’alah ya’alah bo-i leghanni

Henes rimmon gam parhah gafni

יַעֲלָה‭ ‬יַעֲלָה‭ ‬בּוֹאִי‭ ‬לְגַנִּי‭ ‬

הֵנֵץ‭ ‬רִמּוֹן‭ ‬גַּם‭ ‬פָּרְחָה‭ ‬גַּפְנִי‭ ‬

יָבוֹא‭ ‬דוֹדִי‭ ‬יָחִישׁ‭ ‬צְעָדָיו

‭ ‬וְיֹאכַל‭ ‬אֶת‭ ‬פְּרִי‭ ‬מְגָדָיו‭ ‬

אִם‭ ‬יְדִידִי‭ ‬אָרְכוּ‭ ‬נְדוּדָיו

‭ ‬אֵיךְ‭ ‬יְחִידָה‭ ‬אֵשֵׁב‭ ‬עַל‭ ‬כַּנִי‭ ‬

שׁוּבִי‭ ‬אֵלַי‭, ‬אַתְּ‭ ‬בַּת‭ ‬אֲהוּבָה

שׁוּבִי‭ ‬אַתְּ‭, ‬וַאֲנִי‭ ‬אָשׁוּבָה‭ ‬

הִנֵּה‭ ‬עִמִּי‭ ‬זֹאת‭ ‬אוֹת‭ ‬כְּתוּבָה

כִּי‭ ‬בְּתוֹכֵךְ‭ ‬אֶתֵּן‭ ‬מִשְׁכָּנִי‭ ‬

רֵעִי‭, ‬דּוֹדִי‭, ‬נַפְשִׁי‭ ‬פָּדִיתָ‭ ‬

וּלְבַת‭ ‬מֵאָז‭ ‬אוֹתִי‭ ‬קָנִיתָ‭ ‬

עַתָּה‭ ‬לִי‭ ‬בֵין‭ ‬עַמִּים‭ ‬זֵרִיתָ‭ ‬

וְאֵיךְ‭ ‬תֹּאמַר‭ ‬דוֹד‭ ‬כִּי‭ ‬אֲהַבְתָּנִי‭ ‬

חִזְקִי‭ ‬רַעְיָה‭ ‬חִכֵּךְ‭ ‬כְּיֵין‭ ‬הָטוֹב‭ ‬

כִּי‭ ‬צִיץ‭ ‬יִשְׁעִי‭ ‬רַעֲנָן‭ ‬וְרָטֹב‭ ‬

וּלְסִירַיִךְ‭ ‬אֶכְרוֹת‭ ‬וְאֶחְטֹב

וְחִישׁ‭ ‬אֶשְׁלַח‭ ‬לָךְ‭ ‬אֶת‭ ‬סְגָנִי

Come, my doe, come to my garden. The pomegranates bloom, and my vines are flowering.

Come, my beloved, hasten your steps and taste the choicest fruits 

If my lover’s wanderings are prolonged? I cannot bear to sit alone in my place any longer. 

Return to me, beloved one. Return to me, and I too will return

Behold, I hold this writ as proof that I will make my home with you.

My friend, my lover, you have redeemed my soul. Long ago, you took me as your bride. 

But now? You have scattered me among the nations! How can you claim to love me?

Be strengthened, my beloved, the words of your mouth are like the finest wine. For the bud of my salvation is fresh and moist

Your enemies, I will cut down and destroy. And swiftly I will send you my deputy (the Messiah).

    12. Sholem Lid

This traditional nign and Shabbos song was reclaimed from the archives by the late, great Yiddish singer, Adrienne Cooper, who adapted the words to give it a more intentional universal message: “If I had the strength, I’d run in the streets, yelling ’Peace!, Peace!, Peace!’” It will be sung in multiple languages. Everyone is invited to join in – in Yiddish, English, Ladino, Arabic, Hebrew, or with a wordless ‘di-di-di’

Volt ikh gehat koyekh

Volt ikh gelofn in di gasn

Volt ikh geshrign sholem

Sholem, sholem, sholem

If my voice were louder if my body stronger I would tear through the streets Shouting peace, peace, peace!

Artist Bios

_________________________
Audio Tour: Onsite or Online

Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars:

Frank London is the founder and leader of Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, a group of musicians that celebrates Jewish culture and life through a multicultural lens. London is the cofounder of the Klezmatics, and has honed this particular style of music through his own research as a  musician at Hasidic weddings, as well as collaborations with the Marcovic Brothers in Budapest and The Hasaballa Brass Band in Cairo.

London, a Grammy Award winner, has also been featured on HBO’s Sex and the City and the North Sea Jazz Festival. He has also co-founded the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and has collaborated with the likes of Itzhak Perlman, Simon Shaheen, Iggy Pop, Yaakov Lemmer, They Might Be Giants, Michael Winograd and John Zorn. 

Susana Behar:

Susana Behar is a Miami based Sephardic and Latin American folk singer with a distinct Jewish, Sephardic and Cuban heritage. 

Susana has performed in numerous projects, festivals and concerts throughout North and South America, Israel and Japan, collaborating with musicians from diverse backgrounds and musical traditions. 

She is the recipient of the 2015 Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, in the Folk and Traditional Arts. In 2020 Susana served as Artist-in-Residence at the HistoryMiami Museum and currently, and since February 2023, she has been Artist-in-Residence at the Deering Estate in Miami, Florida. 

Susana has recorded three albums: La Galana i el Mar (2009), At The Crossroads, Live (2016) and TAPIZ (2019).

 

Yosef Goldman and Yoni Battat:

Yosef Goldman is a composer of contemporary Jewish sacred music and a rabbi and leading facilitator and educator of Jewish communal music and prayer. He weaves ancient devotional music from his Mizrahi and Ashkenazi heritage alongside contemporary American and Israeli Jewish sacred music to foster healing, connection, and social change. His original compositions are sung in synagogues, schools, and camps across North America and Israel. Yosef has collaborated on over a dozen albums with a diverse array of voices in the world of Jewish music in the US and Israel, including recording two albums of his original spiritual music, Open My Heart (2019), and Abitah (2023), which has been described as “a hidden doorway with the power to open the heart gently and deeply, with its elevated spirit; it touches the very root of the soul.” Along with klezmer trombonist Dan Blackberg, Yosef was selected for the Kimmel Center’s  Jazz Residency in 2018-19. Yosef’s  newest project is Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project. Their first album Simu Lev came out in April, 2024 on Rising Song Records.  He serves as senior advisor for Hadar’s Rising Song Institute and co-leads Shaare Torah congregation in Montgomery County, Maryland, with his wife, Rabbi Annie Lewis. 

Yoni Avi Battat (he/him) brings Arab music into the soundscape of American Jewish life through composition, education, prayer, and performance on viola, violin, oud, and vocals. Described as “an education for the ear and the soul,” his debut album Fragments seeks to find new pathways to connect with ancestry and find healing around our fragmented identities. Yoni’s newest project is Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project. Their first album Simu Lev came out in April, 2024 on Rising Song Records. From 2021-2022 Yoni toured nationally as an actor and violinist with the Tony Award-winning musical, “The Band’s Visit.” Yoni lives in Boston, MA, working locally and nationally to uplift Mizrahi identity in American Jewish communities. www.yonibattat.com

 

Thanks

Kennedy Center Social Impact Program

Department of DEI at the Recording Academy



Celebrate Jewish American Heritage All Year Long

JAHM may be over, but this website will stay active all year long. In fact, we’re still adding resources and refreshing content. If you’re looking for something specific for your school or organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the JAHM team at enews@theweitzman.org at any point during the year and we will match you with partners and resources that best meet your needs.

Thanks for a great JAHM! Let the planning for 2025 begin….

 

Jewish American Heritage Month