The Sephardic Jews have much to teach us about survival and peace. This is the focus of the November Chautauqua performance titled Sephardic Survival: The Balance of the Kabbalistic Heart, Friday, November 13, at 7 p.m., in the Little Theatre.

Of Chilean, Cuban, Sephardic, Mapuche and Basque descent, Consuelo Luz weaves music, political history and her family’s stories into her performance. She is the first in her family to explore and celebrate her Sephardic ancestry.

In North Africa and the Middle East, the Sephardic Jews coexisted peacefully for centuries with their Arab neighbors. In their golden age in Spain, they influenced Spanish culture, adopted their language, Ladino, and with Christians and Muslims, developed the mystical tradition of the Kabbalah. Their exile and persecution after the Inquisition led to their Crypto-Jewish experience in places like northern New Mexico.

Luz performs internationally. Following her critically acclaimed album of Sephardic Ladino music, Dezdo, in her latest CD, Adio, she continues adapting ancient Jewish prayers and ballads from Spain, the Mediterranean and the Middle East into a passionate marriage of Jewish and Latin soul.

She was a cantorial soloist of Sephardic sacred music at Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe for 15 years and sings regularly at Santa Fe’s congregation, Ha Makom.

For an online listing of upcoming Chautauqua performances, go to www.sanjuancollege.edu/chautauqua.
For further information about this and other performances
contact Dr. Jimmy Miller, 334-9325, or Sha Lyn Weisheit at 599-8771.