World Village – Musical Open University: Nani Vazana (NED)

The Sephardic musical tradition is the topic of discussion for Balázs Weyer’s World Village – Musical Free University series. The Sephardic musical tradition is one of the most European of all, given that it entails the traditions of many territories spread throughout Europe. The Sephardic Jews, who spoke Judaeo-Spanish, were banished from the Iberian Peninsula – Spain and Portugal. They escaped to the Ottoman Empire after stopping off in France and Italy, living in larger groups in Istanbul, Izmir, Thessaloniki and Sarajevo. As a result, their music built Iberian motifs and Byzantium and Balkan layers onto its Middle East Jewish roots. Also known as Ladino, the language in which the songs are performed is a Jewish-influenced version of Old Spanish. This World Village performance will focus on the Sephardic Jewish culture. In addition to being an outstanding jazz jazz trombone player, special guest Noam Nani Vazana is the only female singer still writing songs in Judaeo-Spanish. A few months ago, she won the annual European song contest for singers in minority languages in Corsica that has been nicknamed the 'minority Eurovision'.