Me La Amargates Tú -- Sephardic Music

Me La Amargates Tú :
Esteban Manzano, voice
Doret Florentin, recorders
Tulio Rondón, viola da gamba
Sarah Ridy, baroque harp
Cristian Gutiérrez, baroque guitar
Juan Martínez, percussion

performing:
November 18th at 12:45 hs, Kloosterkerk (Lange Voorhout 4)
The Hague, Holland

November 19th at 20:00 hs, Cultural Centre of Schoten (Verbeerstraat 3)
Schoten, Belgium

November 20th at 20:00 hs, Cultural Centre Ter-Dilft of Bornen (Amandsesteenweg 41-43)
Bornen, Belgium

November 22nd at 15:00 hs, Cultural Centre of Zwijndrecht (Kerkplein 1)
Zwijndrecht, Belgium

November 29th at 17:00 hs,Salle de la Cité Bleue (46, Avenue de Miremont)
Genéve, Switzerland

Me La Amargates Tú is also glad to let you know that their New CD, "Alma Vida Coraçón" has been released by PAN Records, you can find it in the shops from January on, or you can order one soon through the website www.melaamargatestu.com

"Prize winners of the "International Jewish Music Competition" in Amsterdam, the ensemble Me la Amargates Tú arose from the interest and research of its members on Sephardic and Spanish music from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The lyrics of the Sephardic songs in the repertoire of Me la Amargates Tú are written in Ladino. The Sephardic Jewish community has preserved the Ladino language for centuries as well as their songs, keeping alive the memory of a culture that is now spread in many countries throughout the world.

Me la Amargates Tú combines the folkloric Ladino tradition with musical elements from the period in which these Sephardic Jewish communities lived in the Iberian peninsula, prior to their expulsion by the Inquisition.

Sephardic written music from that period, only includes the melody and the text. Therefore, Me la Amargates Tú combines instruments from this period with hours of rehearsal and musical arrangements, all to create the most approximate and appropriate results.

The members of Me la Amargates Tú studied with teachers considered world eminences in the field of Early Music, such as Jaap ter Linden, Peter van Heyghen, Christina Pluhar, Donna Agrell, and Rainer Zipperling.

Me la Amargates Tú performs numerous concerts around the world, and its members work from The Hague, Holland, city where their interests and research joined to bring back the sounds from Sefarad."

New Muslim Cool

Thursday, December 10, 2009
7:30 p.m.
Hebrew College, Berenson Hall
$10 advance registration; $15 general admission, free for students with valid ID
The School of Jewish Music presents
A Jewish Music Forum
Music of a Nation, Music of a People:
Is Israeli Art-Music Jewish?
Ronit Seter
Respondant: Klára Móricz
Co-sponsored by the Jewish Music Forum of the American Society for Jewish Music

For information, please contact Renée Tepper, rtepper@hebrewcollege.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 617-559-8622.

What defines a particular genre of music as the voice of a people? of a nation? And what if the two are intrinsically intertwined? For the founders of Israeli art music—Paul Ben-Haim, Alexander Boskovich, Oedoen Partos, Mordecai Seter and Josef Tal—the goal was to separate people and nation, to create a national “style” of music that was unique to Israel, rather than identified with Jewish music of the Diaspora. Although these composers ultimately failed in creating a national style, they did establish a general ideology, claiming that their music was Israeli: a new entity, essentially and qualitatively different from its Jewish—and European—roots. In this special lecture, illustrated by live performances, Dr. Seter will explore the evolution and legacy of Israeli art music.

Dr. Ronit Seter studies 20th century music and specializes in Israeli art music. A contributor to Grove Music Online, she has published 30 academic entries and articles in various professional journals. Her chapter “Israel” appeared in Asian Composers in the 20th Century (in Japanese and English). She lectures frequently at international conferences, including the American Musicological Society, the International Musicological Society and the World Congress for Jewish Studies.

Dr. Seter earned her PhD from Cornell University and received her BA and MA in musicology from Bar-Ilan University, Israel. She served on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, the Department of Music at the George Washington University, the Department of Musicology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Department of Performing Arts at American University, Washington, D.C. The Chapter Representative of the American Musicological Society, Capital Chapter, she is also a visiting scholar at the Jewish Music Research Centre, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Klára Móricz is the Valentine Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Amherst College and author of Jewish Identities: Nationalism, Racism, and Utopianism in Twentieth-Century Music (University of California Press, 2008).

The Jewish Music Forum is a project of The American Society For Jewish Music, with additional support from the American Jewish Historical Society at the Center for Jewish History.