[HANASHIR:11685] Ladino Music Concert

[LeonSher <LeonSher...>]

Living Ladino Concert at HUC-JIR
Monday, June 17 at 7:00 pm
Admission free

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
One West 4th Street (between Broadway and Mercer Street)
New York City

Cantor Richard Botton, Cantor Emeritus of Central Synagogue in NYC, will 
present a musical reverie with Ladino songs from his Sephardic heritage.  
This 
introduction to Ladino and its music will intersperse songs with stories and 
history.  Special arrangements and accompaniment will be provided by 
HUC-JIR’s Artist-in Residence Joyce Rosenzweig.

Cantor Richard Botton was born in The Bronx, New York.  His mother was from 
Istanbul, Turkey and his father was from Salonica, Greece.  Ladino was his 
first language; and growing up, he learned Ladino songs from his parents and 
relatives.  Cantor Botton explains “Ladino language and culture is to 
Sephardic Jews what Yiddish is to Ashkenazi Jews.”   He has been traveling 
around the country performing Ladino concerts in order to help people 
undertand its charm, beauty, and wisdom.

Living Ladino is part of an ongoing initiative at Hebrew Union College-Jewish 
Institute of Religion to integrate Sephardic Studies into its curriculum and 
to increase exposure to Sephardic history and traditions among students in 
HUC-JIR's rabbinical, cantorial, education and communal service graduate 
programs.  The Sephardic Studies initiative also includes the development of 
new courses and seminars, a visiting scholar and visiting professor program, 
research and public lectures.  Support for the initiative has been provided 
by The Maurice Amado Foundation.

For further information and for an electronic image of Cantor Botton, please 
contact:
Sarah Schriever, 212-824-2293, sschriever (at) huc(dot)edu(dot)