Antiguas Olas, Kostas Nuevas: Music of Sephardic Diasporas

The Sephardic Jews had an exemplary history of global migration and cultural exchanges with diverse ethnic groups surrounding them, and their music reflect their diasporic history with an extremely diverse soundscape under the umbrella term “Sephardic music”. The Jewish community who resided in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497 were named the Sephardic Jews, or “Sephardi.” Rooted in the musical traditions of the Jewish communities in medieval Iberian Peninsula, Sephardic music has since then absorbed influences from European art music, Ottoman and Turkish music, and even Latin American music with the diaspora around the Mediterranean Sea and the Americas. One common feature that connects all Sephardic music is the use of Judezmo language, alternatively named Ladino and Judeo-Espanol. Historically, Judezmo language is written in Hebrew rashi scripts.

The first Sephardic Jews settled in Seattle at the turn of the 20th century, traveled from Izmir and the Island of Rhodes (at the time still cities of the Ottoman Empire). In the past century, music played in these Sephardic households has been a curious mixture of Turkish music, Western European Art music, European popular music, Spanish music, Israeli popular music, Latin American music, and more genres. This concert presents a selection of Sephardic folk music and original composed music with musical influences from diverse cultures, interpreted with a vast variety of musical instruments from around the world.