Contemporary Sephardic
Charlottesville and Northern Virginia
Minnush, a fresh and innovative ensemble dedicated to playing contemporary Sephardic music, pays homage to the life and legacy of the late Flory Jagoda, the National Heritage Award-winning Sephardic singer and composer. When the Sephardic Jews were forced into exile from Spain and Portugal in the late fifteenth century, many settled in other Mediterranean countries but preserved their native language, Ladino, and their oral culture. Flory Jagoda was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, a member of the Sephardic Jewish community. Through her “nona,” her mother’s mother, Flory learned songs that had been passed down among the Sephardi for generations, as well as absorbed the Balkan region’s cultural traditions. Flory escaped the destruction of Sarajevo’s Jewish community, eventually arriving in the United States after World War II. In 2001, Flory was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor the United States bestows on a traditional artist. She is recognized as a critically important carrier of a unique musical heritage and also as a composer and arranger of new Sephardic songs.
Minnush incorporates contemporary influences and gives traditional Sephardic songs and Flory’s compositions new life featuring improvisation, storytelling and virtuosic musicianship by members Susan Gaeta, Gina Sobel, Trevor Pietsch and Marty Risemberg. The group had its beginnings in Gina’s Virginia Folklife apprenticeship to Susan, who herself apprenticed with Flory Jagoda more than a decade before. Minnush grew out of an urge to do what folk music has always done—to naturally incorporate new influences and reflect the world around it. Minnush adds elements of American folk and jazz, while shedding light on the immigration and refugee stories that the songs carry. Minnush is serious, joyful, forward moving and eminently fresh.