In this class we will explore Sephardic music—the music of Jews in diaspora who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492—through lecture, recordings, and live music. While many are familiar with Sephardic music through the more recent Art Song tradition of the genre, historically Sephardic music has many other iterations, including communal singing, nightclub performance, and liturgical traditions. Can we even define the genre of Sephardic music? Let's discover together! Participants will have the opportunity to learn and sing songs, but no singing ability is required.

Led by Eric Stern, Events Coordinator and Cultural Arts Ambassador at the Eastside Jewish Commons.

Instructor bio:
Eric Stern, an international performer, has appeared on NPR and has performed at the Kennedy Center, The Great American Music Hall, Joe’s Pub in NYC, and internationally from Portland to Paris to Poland. Best known as the founder, leader, and accordionist of Vagabond Opera, Stern abandoned his accordion many years ago and went fretless studying and playing oud (a kind of lute that is played throughout the Mizrachi, Sephardic, and Arabic world). Stern has studied and taught the Arabic, Turkish and Mizrachi repertoire for decades, receiving instruction from Yurdal Tokcan, Timuçin Çevikoğlu, Yair Dalal, Souhail Kaspar, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Elias and George Lammam, and Souren Baronian. He has also performed with many of these same artists. He is currently the Arts & Culture Curator at Eastside Jewish Commons. 
 

Building Entry for Lifelong Learning Activities

For security reasons, the building always remains locked. It is the responsibility of member participants to bring the door code and use it to come inside. Since the code cannot be transmitted by email, please contact one of our staff if you don't have it yet: Rachel Pollak (503-248-4662, ext. 2) or Tara Anderson (ext. 4).

If you are not a member of Havurah, we hope you will join us for this class, but we cannot share the code with you. Call or text the phone number attached to the door when you arrive, and a participant will come let you in.

We also want to encourage you to arrive on time, particularly those who do not have a code. This will minimize disruptions for students and teachers.

Volunteer opportunity! On the first day of class, the instructor will ask for someone to share their phone number on the door sign and monitor their phone alerts so that others can be let into the building to attend class. If you can help in this way, please tell the instructor. Thank you!

Accommodations

Havurah Shalom strives to offer accessible programming and spaces to all. If a reasonable accommodation can improve your experience of this activity, please email info@havurahshalom.org.