Original press release here: FloryJagoda.

DCJCC PRESENTS FLORY JAGODA IN CONCERT

WASHINGTON, DC – The Washington DCJCC proudly presents Flory Jagoda in Concert on Wednesday, July 16 at 7:30 pm at the DCJCC, 1529 16^th Street NW.

Flory Altarač Jagoda was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in 1923, at a time when Sephardic Jews were still numerous in the Balkans. Flory learned many old Sephardic songs from her Nona (grandmother) and other family members, who were known as the “Singing Altaračs.” She came to America in 1947, having married U.S. Army Sergeant Harry Jagoda as World War II was ending, and with whom she raised four children in northern Virginia.

Flory’s original compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by singers and groups all over the world, and many are now firmly entrenched in Sephardic song tradition. She has performed in concert and at festivals throughout the U.S., in Canada, and in Europe, and has recorded four albums of her songs. A 2002 recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, presented by the National Endowment for the Arts, Flory later served as a Master Artist in the Folklife Apprenticeship Program for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. She will be joined in this program by Howard Bass, her guitar accompanist, and Susan Gaeta on guitar and vocals.

Flory’s program includes songs she learned as a child and her own compositions. Her songs focus on love, longing, loss, family, holidays, and traditions. As always, she will tell stories about where the songs came from and what they mean to her. The songs are sung in Ladino, the language spoken by Jews whose family origins go back more than five centuries to Spain, from which they were exiled in 1492.

ABOUT THE WASHINGTON DCJCC

The Washington DCJCC works to preserve and strengthen Jewish identity, heritage, tradition and values through a wide variety of social, cultural, recreational and educational programs and services. The DCJCC is committed to welcoming everyone in the community; membership and all activities are open to all. The DCJCC is a partner agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and a designated agency of the United Way.

TICKETS/INFO

Venue: Washington DCJCC, 1529 16^th Street NW

Tickets: $15

To order: washingtondcjcc.org/music

Information: (202) 777-3251; lilikg@washingtondcjcc.org

There will be an extra Hunger Action this coming Sunday, June 22, 2014  from 11 am until 1 pm.  Please sign up.

We’ll be cooking for a special graduation event for the Family Place. We will be making lunch for all of this year’s graduates this and their families.  We will also be baking off cookies for dessert.  If you have a special cookie dough recipe, please make a batch and bring it so that we can bake it off and end their special day with home baked cookies!