Kanta Judezmo is an oratorio, using songs sung in the Ladino language to tell the story of those who spoke it, with narration in English. It tells a story about the Sephardic diaspora through the lens of its central female character, with universal threads that traverse centuries, borders, language, culture and genre.
Kanta Judezmo will have musical themes and rhythms with the same influences as the language itself; including Jewish melodic themes, with motifs and rhythms from Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and even South America. Sascha Jacobsen has created a new work with entirely original melodic, rhythmic, textural and formal material. Traditional Ladino songs formed the basis and inspiration for this project.
About the Ladino language
Ladino (Judeo-Español) is quickly becoming a lost language. The few people who currently speak it are elderly and it is not being passed on in the spoken form. Our ancestors spoke this variant of medieval Spanish that was once spoken across Europe and the Middle East. Synagogue services in California at the turn of the 19th century that Sascha's great-grandfather attended were given in Ladino. Also known as Judezmo, Espanyolit, or Sefaradi, Ladino is based on Old Spanish, with elements of many other languages and cultures, including: the old Romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula: Old Aragonese, Astur-Leonese, Old Catalan, Galician-Portuguese and Mozarabic. The language has been further enriched by Ottoman Turkish and Semitic vocabulary, such as Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. Most native speakers are elderly, and the language is not being transmitted to future generations.
Our hope for Kanta Judezmo
In some expatriate communities across the Mediterranean, Latin America and elsewhere, there is a threat of Ladino dialect leveling resulting in extinction by assimilation into modern Spanish. It is experiencing, however, a minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music.
Our aim with this new work is to educate the public about this beautiful language, while creating a meaningful context and journey that employs musical elements coinciding with the elements of the language itself. We hope to help keep Ladino alive for future generations to discover. In telling this story of persistence through struggle, we share a message of hope, peace and unity.
Kanta Judezmo extends gratitude to our sponsors:
San Francisco Arts Commission
Kanta Judezmo will have musical themes and rhythms with the same influences as the language itself; including Jewish melodic themes, with motifs and rhythms from Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and even South America. Sascha Jacobsen has created a new work with entirely original melodic, rhythmic, textural and formal material. Traditional Ladino songs formed the basis and inspiration for this project.
About the Ladino language
Ladino (Judeo-Español) is quickly becoming a lost language. The few people who currently speak it are elderly and it is not being passed on in the spoken form. Our ancestors spoke this variant of medieval Spanish that was once spoken across Europe and the Middle East. Synagogue services in California at the turn of the 19th century that Sascha's great-grandfather attended were given in Ladino. Also known as Judezmo, Espanyolit, or Sefaradi, Ladino is based on Old Spanish, with elements of many other languages and cultures, including: the old Romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula: Old Aragonese, Astur-Leonese, Old Catalan, Galician-Portuguese and Mozarabic. The language has been further enriched by Ottoman Turkish and Semitic vocabulary, such as Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. Most native speakers are elderly, and the language is not being transmitted to future generations.
Our hope for Kanta Judezmo
In some expatriate communities across the Mediterranean, Latin America and elsewhere, there is a threat of Ladino dialect leveling resulting in extinction by assimilation into modern Spanish. It is experiencing, however, a minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music.
Our aim with this new work is to educate the public about this beautiful language, while creating a meaningful context and journey that employs musical elements coinciding with the elements of the language itself. We hope to help keep Ladino alive for future generations to discover. In telling this story of persistence through struggle, we share a message of hope, peace and unity.
Kanta Judezmo extends gratitude to our sponsors:
San Francisco Arts Commission
