TITLE: Flory Jagoda and Friends
SPEAKER: Flory Jagoda, Howard Bass, Susan Gaeta, Tina Chancey
EVENT DATE: 03/21/2007
FORMAT: Video + Captions
RUNNING TIME: 52 minutes
TRANSCRIPT: View Transcript (link will open in a new window)
DESCRIPTION:
Flory Jagoda, with friends Susan Gaeta, Howard Bass, and Tina Chancey, performs traditional Sephardic music from the former Yugoslavia and other parts of the world as part of the Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. The concert also marks the Library's celebration of Women's History Month.
Speaker Biography: Flory Jagoda grew up in the Sephardic tradition in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in a musical family of which she is the sole survivor. A performer for much of her life, she is intent on preserving and passing on the traditions of her heritage so that they may not be lost and tragically forgotten. She has performed throughout the United States and abroad as a soloist and with her family, and she has also inspired, taught and performed with most of the other groups in the U.S. who perform Sephardic songs. Her four recorded albums, "Kantikas di mi Nona," "Memories of Sarajevo," "La Nona Kanta" and "Arvoliko" (released in 2006), along with her live performances, are acts of cultural preservation and salvage in the face of repeated destruction. Jagoda's repertoire is vast, encompassing Sephardic songs, songs in Serbo-Croatian from the former Yugoslavia, Italian folk songs and her own compositions, many of which have become widely known. Her many honors for cultural preservation include a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002.
Speaker Biography: Howard Bass has performed throughout the United States as a soloist and has been a guest accompanist with vocal and instrumental ensembles throughout the Washington area and beyond. A founding member of La Rondinella, with whom he made three recordings for the Dorian label, he has also performed and recorded with HESPERUS, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Folger Consort, the Baltimore Consort and the Choral Arts Society of Washington, among others.
Speaker Biography: Susan Gaeta is a vocalist and guitarist born in Hartford, Conn. For eight years she performed jazz and American folk music as a soloist in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she also studied and performed Argentine folk music accompanied by classical guitarist Oscar Casares. She recently completed an apprenticeship with Flory Jagoda. Gaeta performs nationally as a soloist, as a member the Sephardic group, Colors of the Flame, and as a guest accompanist for Jagoda.
Speaker Biography: Tina Chancey, a founding member and director of HESPERUS, is also a member of the rock band Blackmore's Night and a former member of the Folger Consort, the Ensemble for Early Music and the New York Renaissance Band. A multi-instrumentalist specializing in early bowed strings from the rebec and vielle to the kamenj, viol and lyra, she has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to support solo performances on the pardessus de viole at the Kennedy Center and Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has performed with Ex Umbris, La Rondinella, and QUOG, an improvisational multi-media music theater group. Dr. Chancey received her PhD in Musicology from the Union Institute. Her articles on early music appear in scholarly and popular publications, and she has recorded for a score of labels from Arabesque to Windham Hill. She directs What's That Note, Inc., teaching sight singing and ear training to amateur singers, and also works as an independent recording producer.
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SERIES: Homegrown
