Sarah Aroeste

Sarah Aroeste

Determined to help bring Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) culture to a new generation, Sarah Aroeste, an international Ladino singer/songwriter, author and cultural activist, draws upon her Sephardic family roots from Greece and Macedonia (via Medieval Spain) to present traditional and original Ladino songs with her unique blend of rock, pop, and jazz.

Since 2001, Aroeste has toured the globe performing and speaking, and has recorded five albums, A la Una: In the Beginning (2003), Puertas (2007), Gracia (2012), Ora de Despertar (2016), the first-ever all-original Ladino children’s album, and Together/Endjuntos (2017) the first bilingual Ladino/English holiday album. In 2014 Aroeste won the Sephardic prize at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam, and in 2015 she represented the USA in the International Sephardic Music Festival in Cordoba, Spain. Aroeste is currently directing The Monastir Project, a music collaboration between Israelis and Macedonians to pay tribute to a once thriving Balkan community.

In addition to writing music, Aroeste has published numerous articles and essays about Sephardic cultural preservation, and pens Sephardic-themed books for children. Her most recent book, Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom (Kar-Ben and PJ Library), was published March 2020. Bringing Ladino words and music to young and old, Aroeste has garnered wide critical acclaim for her efforts to introduce Sephardic culture to wider audiences.

Articles

A Ladino Rock Revolution: A look back on my Sephardic Journey (part three)

A Ladino Rock Revolution: A look back on my Sephardic Journey (part three)

11/15/2021
My vision now is not of my own success, but of continuing to build out this community. Sephardic culture is world culture.
A Ladino Rock Revolution: A look back on my Sephardic Journey (part two)

A Ladino Rock Revolution: A look back on my Sephardic Journey (part two)

11/11/2021
I’m not sure who is more surprised, me or my mother, that my career in Ladino continues to flourish two decades on.
A Ladino Rock Revolution: A look back on my Sephardic Journey (part one)

A Ladino Rock Revolution: A look back on my Sephardic Journey (part one)

11/09/2021
Twenty years ago, I told my mother that I wanted to start a Ladino rock band.
Flory Jagoda Dedicated Her Life to Preserving Ladino Music—and Inspired Me to Do the Same

Flory Jagoda Dedicated Her Life to Preserving Ladino Music—and Inspired Me to Do the Same

02/03/2021
Like her most famous song, “Ocho Kandelikas,” Jagoda exuded an infectious joy.
Latino, Hispanic or Sephardic?

Latino, Hispanic or Sephardic?

12/13/2018
A Sephardi Jew explains some commonly confused terms.
Everyone Wants to be Sephardic at Passover

Everyone Wants to be Sephardic at Passover

03/27/2018
New song takes a lighthearted approach to Passover foods and customs.
#WeNeedDiverseBooks -Jewish Edition: A New Kind of Children’s Book

#WeNeedDiverseBooks -Jewish Edition: A New Kind of Children’s Book

07/19/2017
First of its kind Ladino-English Jewish children’s book.
Our Dreams of Home

Our Dreams of Home

10/21/2014
When I think of home, I imagine the physical space I return to at night, the one with the white-washed façade, the apple trees in the backyard, and of course my daughter’s contagious toothy grin waiting for me inside.
The Gift of Generations: A Mother’s Song

The Gift of Generations: A Mother’s Song

05/20/2014
Mom. Mommy. Ima. Madre. Mother.
Ladino Pregnant Pop

Ladino Pregnant Pop

11/15/2013
Three words that normally don’t go together: Ladino, Pop, Pregnant.