Sarah Aroeste is an American singer and composer.Mordechai Shinefield
"Monday Music: The Face of Ladino Dream-Pop,"
''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...

'', May 21, 2012. Her music is often referred to as "feminist Ladino rock."Felix Contreras and Catalina Maria Johnson, hosts
"Latin Music That Breaks Barriers And Pushes Boundaries,"

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, June 21, 2012. She also writes books for children with

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

themes.Elissa Strauss
"My Baby Is Obsessed With This Ladino Children’s Book,"
'' Kveller'', March 5, 2020.

Early life

Aroeste grew up in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. Her family roots can be traced to the formerly vibrant Sephardic Jewish community of Monastir (now known as

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

, North Macedonia) which was almost completely destroyed in

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Her family immigrated to the United States from Monastir during the Balkan Wars in the early 20th century.Dmitri Ehrlich
"’Jewish Shakira’ Gives Her Songs a Sexy Spin,"
''

'', August 15, 2003.Children of the Inquisition
"Sarah Aroeste - Children of the Inquisition"
''childrenoftheinquisition'' Aroeste trained in classical opera singing at

Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's Westminster College of the Arts, the college under which the historic institution has b ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

.Aaron Cohen
"Sarah Aroeste’s modern spin on tuneful tradition,"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', April 9, 2004. She attended the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in 1997, first learning traditional Ladino songs while studying under

Nico Castel Nico Castel (August 1, 1931 – May 31, 2015), born Naftali Chaim Castel Kalinhoff, was a comprimario tenor and well-known language and diction coach, as well as a prolific translator of libretti and writer of books on singing diction. Although Cas ...

.Mordechai Shinefield
"For Ladino Musicians, World’s A Stage,"
''

'', July 2, 2012.

Career

Ladino beginnings

In the late 1990s, Aroeste was working for the

Foundation for Jewish Culture The Foundation for Jewish Culture (formerly the National Foundation for Jewish Culture) was an advocacy group for Jewish cultural life and creativity in the United States. Founded in 1960, it supported writers, filmmakers, artists, composers, cho ...

in New York, where she created The New Jewish Musics Initiative. She was disappointed that, while there was a revival of

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

music at that time, there was no similar revival for

Sephardic music Sephardic music is an umbrella term used to refer to the music of the Sephardic Jewish community. Sephardic Jews have a diverse repertoire the origins of which center primarily around the Mediterranean basin. In the secular tradition, material is u ...

. She started her own Judaeo-Spanish rock band in 2001. Born Sarah Silverman, she adopted her mother's maiden name when she began performing as a Ladino musician. Aroeste has been at the forefront of the contemporary Ladino music revival ever since.

Renée Montagne Renée Montagne (pronounced Mon-TAIN) is an American radio journalist and was the co-host (with Steve Inskeep and David Greene) of National Public Radio's weekday morning news program, ''Morning Edition'', from May 2004 to November 11, 2016. Mo ...

, host
"Morning Edition,"

, December 19, 2003.

''A la Una'' and ''Puertas''

Aroeste's first two albums, 2003's ''A la Una: In the Beginning'' and 2007's ''Puertas'', were primarily Ladino updates of traditional Sephardic standards. The latter, produced by Grammy Award winner

Frank London Frank London (born 1958 in New York) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music. Early life London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourth g ...

, was described as "traditional Ladino music updated with rock, funk and jazz."

''Gracia''

Aroeste's third album, ''Gracia'', is named after

Gracia Mendes Nasi Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510 – 1569), also known as Doña Gracia or ''La Señora'' (The Lady), was a Portuguese philanthropist and one of the wealthiest Jewish women of Renaissance Europe. She married Francisco Mendes/Benveniste. She was the materna ...

, a 15th-century Jewish woman who helped Jews who had falsely converted to Catholicism in order to flee the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

. Produced and arranged by Shai Bachar,Aaron Howard
"Aaron Howard reviews Two Ladino CDs,"
''

Jewish Herald-Voice The ''Jewish Herald-Voice'' is a weekly community newspaper serving the Jewish community of Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast for more than 100 years. The newspaper is the longest-running Jewish paper in the Southwest. Commonly known as the ''JHV'' ...

'', June 7, 2012. it features the rapping of poet Vanessa Hidary, and its opening track samples from a 1971 speech by

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...

. Unlike her first two albums, many of the Ladino songs on ''Gracia'' are originals written by Aroeste. With this release, she "developed a style that borrows liberally from all sorts of unexpected places, from

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. '' Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, S ...

fusion-pop to gothic metal," while taking care to insure that "during these genre experiments the Ladino influences don’t disappear, but are integrated." ''Gracia'' has been labeled "the strongest case around for the ongoing relevance of Ladino music."

''Ora de Despertar''

Aroeste's fourth album is an all-original Ladino children's album, the only known contemporary recording of its kind. The songs teach simple concepts in Ladino and range in themes from learning about mealtimes to body parts to animals on a farm. The album won a coveted Parents' Choice Award for music. With this recording, Aroeste has been credited for helping to perpetuate Ladino culture for a new generation. In July 2017 Aroeste released a bilingual illustrated children's book of the same name, as a companion to the recording.

''Together/Endjuntos''

Aroeste's fifth album is an all-original bilingual (Ladino/English) holiday album that cycles the Hebrew calendar.

''Monastir''

Aroeste's sixth album is a musical homage to the once-thriving Sephardic community of Monastir. It features 30 musicians from 5 countries, singing in 3 languages to honor the Balkan Jewish community of Aroeste's family, destroyed in WWII. One of the songs in the album, ''Estreja Mara'' honors the memory of

Estreya Ovadya Haim Estreya Ovadya (25 December 1922 – 26 August 1944) was a Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian Jewish Communism, communist who joined the Yugoslav Partisans after the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941 during World War II. Life Haim Es ...

, the Macedonian Jewish partisan from Monastir who died in battle against the Nazis in 1944.Sarah Aroeste's New Album Evokes the Lost Jewish World of Monastir
The album was selected as Best Jewish Album of the Year (2021) by Jewish media outlet, Alma.

''Hanuká''

Aroeste's seventh album is an all-Ladino recording of Hanuka songs old and new. Billboard Magazine named one of the tracks, ''Ocho Kandelikas'', as one of the eight great Hanukkah songs of 2021.

Performances

For two decades, Aroeste has headlined music festivals all over the world. In 2008, she performed with the

Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Hebrew: התזמורת הסימפונית ירושלים, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Simfonit Yerushalayim'') is a major orchestra of Israel. Since the 1980s, the JSO has been based in the Henry Crown Symphony Hall, part of ...

as a finalist in ''Festiladino'', the international competition of original Ladino songs. In 2014, Aroeste won the Sephardic Prize at th
International Jewish Music Festival
in Amsterdam, and in 2015 she represented the US in the International Sephardic Music Festival in Cordoba, Spain.

Discography

Albums

* ''A la Una: In the Beginning'' (2003) * ''Puertas'' (2007) * ''Gracia'' (2012) * ''Ora de Despertar'' (2016) * ''Together/Endjuntos'' (2017) * ''Monastir'' (2021) * ''Hanuká'' (2021)

Compilations

* ''Sephardic Music Festival, Vol. 1'' – "Hija Mia (

Tamir Muskat Tamir Muskat (in Hebrew תמיר מוסקט) is an Israeli musician/producer-sound engineer who was born and raised in Petach Tikva, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. His father was the manager of Anzeagi Conservatorion for music in Petach T ...

Remix)" (2010) * ''Sephardic Music Festival, Vol. 2'' – "Gonna Light" (feat.

Y-Love Yitz Jordan (born January 5, 1978), better known by his stage name Y-Love, is an American hip hop artist. An Orthodox Jew, Jordan was formerly Hasidic.Jerry Portwood"Y-Love is Ready for Love,"'' Out'', May 15, 2012. He is a web developer, activis ...

) and "La Comida La Manana" (2012)

Books

* ''Ora de Despertar/Time to Wake Up'' (Self-published) (2017) * ''Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom'' (Kar-Ben) (2020) Considered to be the first contemporary board book with Ladino words published by a mainstream publisher."Finally, Jewish kids’ books are starting to reflect the diversity of Judaism,"
July 22, 2020.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aroeste, Sarah Jewish American musicians Judaeo-Spanish-language singers American Sephardic Jews American people of Greek-Jewish descent 1976 births Living people 21st-century American Jews