Museum to host film, concert by legendary Sephardi musician
Legendary Sephardi musician Flory Jagoda will headline a concert following a screening of Flory’s Flame — the acclaimed documentary about her and her Celebration Concert at the U.S. Library of Congress — on Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m. at the Montclair Art Museum.
The renowned 90-year-old Judeo-Spanish composer and performer was born in Sarajevo to a musical family whose roots stretch back to pre-expulsion Spain. After 1492, over the centuries, her forebears lived in small Jewish communities in Bosnia, with the songs of their culture passing down relatively intact, ultimately reaching Jagoda, the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust.
Jagoda has spent her career composing, recording, and performing this music worldwide; she is a National Heritage Fellow — the highest honor given by the United States to traditional artists.
The documentary interlaces her personal narrative with selections from the 2013 Celebration Concert, where she was joined onstage by 25 musicians with whom she has performed over the years. Interviews with her, family members, and colleagues explore her mission to ensure continuity of her family’s cultural legacy through her music.
At the museum concert, Jagoda will be accompanied by her daughter Betty Murphy and musicians Howard Bass and Susan Gaeta.
Montclair filmmakers Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel of JEMGLO Productions will take part in a discussion with Jagoda at a reception following the program.
Tickets cost $25, $20 for museum members; go to montclairartmuseum.org or call 973-746-5555.
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