FESTIVALS

THE SEPHARDIC MUSIC FESTIVAL

“This Hanukkah fest wants to school us in Jewish music—and not just your grandpa’s klez.”
Time Out NY

“Our Hannukkah-side suggestion is the annual Sephardic Music Festival…look at this festival as the un-Ashkenazi festival.” – National Public Radio, WNYC

SMF 2010 will take place between December 20th and the 27th

(click here to see the event schedule)

ABOUT THE 6th ANNUAL SEPHARDIC MUSIC FESTIVAL:

The Sephardic Music Festival showcases the remarkable diversity that exists within the Jewish community. Its tapestry of harmonies, rhythms, and cultural motifs are as rich, vibrant, and diverse as the Jewish world itself. Popular perceptions of Jews and Jewish culture are dominated by Ashkenazi images and symbols like bagels, gefilte fish, klezmer, and Yiddish. This is the first music festival to focus exclusively on the less familiar but captivating culture of the Jewish communities of Spain/Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

The festival showcases artists from all over the world, representing cultural traditions from Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) to Mizrahi (Middle Eastern/North African) to Yemenite (Judeo-Arabic). In addition to traditional liturgical music, Shabbat songs, Sephardic folk tunes, and classic love poems (Romanceros), the festival also presents artists who fuse traditional rhythms, melodies, and themes with modern styles such as electro, hip hop, and dance music. The Sephardic Scholar Series, an important part of the Festival, brings performers, ethnomusicologists, and experts together to illuminate the historical and sociological roots of Sephardic music and culture.

WEBSITE:
sephardicmusicfestival.com

PRESS KIT:
https://shemspeed.com/smfpresskit

MYSPACE:
myspace.com/sephardicmusicfestival
TWITTER:
twitter.com/sephardic

SELECTED PRESS:
Nextbook (click here)
Daily News (click here)
Time Out
(click here)
NPR
(click here)
Brooklyn Vegan
(click here)
The Jewish Week
(click here)
The Jerusalem Post
(click here)
The Forward
(click here)

PHOTOS FROM PAST FESTIVALS:

2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

VIDEOS:

*
Coverage & Performances at the Sephardic Music Festival


SMF Art Rave & Fashion Show (introduction video)

http://youtu.be/VIr7pEC78pU

Shalom TV’s coverage of SMF’s opening night

http://blip.tv/play/hrYtgpbzGQI

Divahn @ Joe’s Pub
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=436zweXkN7c

Hadag Nachash @ BB Kings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga4oSJr5y3M

Eden Mi Qedem @ Highline Ballroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRP6wIozfns

Smadar @ Joe’s Pub
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QtB3xi_K2Y


SMF Art Rave & Fashion Show (Video recap)

http://youtu.be/Vfxj-3ugq7c

On Jewish Diversity at SMF 2010 and beyond

http://youtu.be/TmaFaZtOBNE