Sarah Aroeste is a Manhattan-based Judaeo-Spanish musician. Her music is often referred to as “feminist Ladino rock.”
Early life
Aroeste grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. Her family roots can be traced to the formerly vibrant Greek Jewish community of Thessaloniki, which was almost completely destroyed in the Holocaust. In 1927, her family built a synagogue in Thessaloniki, which today remains one of the only synagogues there. Her family immigrated to the United States from Bitola and Greece in the early 20th century. Aroeste trained in classical opera singing at Westminster Choir College and Yale University. She attended the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in 1997, first learning traditional Ladino songs while studying with Nico Castel.
Career
Ladino beginnings
In the late-90s, Aroeste was working for the Foundation for Jewish Culture in New York, where she created The New Jewish Musics Initiative. She was disappointed that, while there was a revival of Ashkenaziklezmer music, there was no similar revival for Sephardic music. Unable to find any modern Judaeo-Spanish music, she started her own Judaeo-Spanish rock band in 2001. At the time, there were very few people playing Ladino music. Born Sarah Silverman, she adopted her mother's maiden name when she began performing as a Ladino musician. Her goal was to obtain a wider, younger audience for Ladino music, by rearranging the traditional music of her ancestors to give it a hip, modern spin. Aroeste has been at the forefront of the contemporary Ladino music revival. Developed by Spanish Jews following their expulsion from Spain, the Ladino language dates back to the 15th century. Because it is rooted in the dispersal of its people, Ladino music is not from one particular region, but rather from a variety of geographies and ethnicities. Its origins lie in Castilian Spanish, with shades of Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, Greek and other languages. As of 2012, Judaeo-Spanish is spoken by fewer than 100,000 people, the majority of whom reside in Israel.
''A la Una'' and ''Puertas''
Aroeste's first two albums, 2003's A la Una: In the Beginning and 2007's Puertas, were primarily Ladino updates of traditional Sephardic standards. Produced by Frank London, Puertas features standard rock instruments like guitar, bass and drums, along with Middle Eastern ones like the oud and dumbek. It was described as “traditional Ladino music updated with rock, funk and jazz.”
''Gracia''
Aroeste's third album, Gracia, is named after Gracia Mendes Nasi, a 15th-century Jewish woman who helped Jews who had converted to Catholicism in order to flee the Spanish Inquisition. Produced and arranged by Shai Bachar, it features the rapping of poet Vanessa Hidary, and its opening track samples from a 1971 speech by Gloria Steinem. Unlike her first two albums, many of the Ladino songs on Gracia are originals written by Aroeste. She has stated that it is her most experimental album to date. With this release, she “developed a style that borrows liberally from all sorts of unexpected places, from Santigold fusion-pop to gothic metal,” while taking care to insure that “during these genre experiments the Ladino influences don’t disappear, but are integrated.” Gracia has been labeled “the strongest case around for the ongoing relevance of Ladino music.” In 2012, music from Gracia was featured on Alt.Latino on NPR, Transpacific Sound Paradise on WFMU and WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.
''Ora de Despertar''
Aroeste's fourth album is an all-original Ladino children's album, the only known contemporary recording of its kind. The songs teach simple concepts in Ladino and range in themes from learning about mealtimes to body parts to animals on a farm. With this recording, Aroeste has been credited for helping to perpetuate Ladino culture for a new generation.
In July 2017 Aroeste released a bilingual illustrated children's book as a companion to the recording. The book teaches about morning rituals and what to be grateful for upon waking up. It is considered to be the first of its kind.
''Together/Endjuntos''
Aroeste's fifth album is an all-original bilingual holiday album that cycles the Hebrew calendar.
