SEPHARDI WOMEN’S VOICES AND MUSIC: JEWISH TRADITION, CONTINUITY, AND SURVIVAL

Presented by Dr. Vanessa Paloma Elbaz
Research Associate, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at the CERMOM (Center for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies) INALCO- Sorbonne Paris Cité

Sephardim, like all migrating groups, developed tools to maintain the integrity of their unique group while redefining affiliations, rituals, traditions, and in some cases even beliefs. Contrary to considering written texts as the only primary influence on Jewish tradition, this talk will demonstrate how orality, and particularly women’s relationship to transmission play crucial roles in this process.

Incorporating examples of material culture that are relevant to songs and rituals, as well as music, Dr. Elbaz will explore contemporary traditions and historical context – taking us back in time to the beginning of the 20th C. to share research and illustrations on the subject. Her talk will also address texts from the 16th and 17th centuries that help us understand 20th and 21st-century practices.

The Sephardi experience, like all Jewish experience, aims to maintain cohesion despite migration, forced conversion, persecution, and assimilation. Join us to explore Sephardic women’s voices and music as a core mechanism within Sephardi life for transmitting Jewish traditions to help overcome such upheavals.

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