Kokhava Levy ( he, כוכבה לוי), born 1946 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, is an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer and poet in the

Judeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...

language, as was her husband

Yitzhak Isaac Levy Yitzhak Isaac Levy (( he, יצחק לוי); May 15, 1919, Manisa, Turkey – July 21, 1977, Jerusalem) was an Israeli singer-songwriter, musicologist and composer in Judeo-Spanish. He also worked as director of a radio program and was an author of ...

(who died in 1977) and daughter

Yasmin Levy Yasmin Levy ( he, יסמין לוי; born December 23, 1975) is an Israeli singer-songwriter of Judeo-Spanish music. Biography Yasmin Levy was born on December 23, 1975, in Baka, Jerusalem. She is of Sephardic Jewish descent. Her parents were A ...

Biography

After finishing her studies, she learned to develop her voice at the

Rubin Academy of Music and Dance The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance ( he, האקדמיה למוסיקה ולמחול בירושלים), is a school for the music and the performing arts in Jerusalem. It is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusal ...

in Jerusalem. Kohava met her husband at Kol Yisrael (the "Voice of Israel" radio), when he was the director of Ladino programming and popular music. She appeared on a radio program called "Karas Muevas" ("New Faces") and was selected to participate. Yitzhak Levy was 27 years older than Kohava, but she married him despite the age difference and they had four children. Two of their sons (Udi Levy and Yuval Levy) are engineers, their daughter Smadar is a lawyer and the youngest, daughter

, continues her parents' traditions and songs as a singer. After the death of her husband, Kohava appeared on various radio programs and on television, singing the songs, romances and hymns in the books published by her husband. Her son Yuval produced the album "El Kanto de los Levitas" for her. It includes liturgical hymns interpreted by Kohava. Kohava continues her work at the Bureau of Matriculation in Jerusalem.

Discography

Full albums

* 2011: ''Kanta Ladino''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Kohava 1946 births Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent Jewish singers Judaeo-Spanish-language singers Musicians from Jerusalem Living people