“The Guava Rugelach Festival”, the new event from NEXT@19th!
A culturally-rooted music explosion is gearing up at Next@19th in the form of the 2012 Guava Rugelach Festival. First launched in 2006, the Festival celebrates “tropical Jewish sound” – expressing Jewish culture through an array of geographically-influenced musical genres. Musical styles often intersect with each other in glorious harmony reflecting the Jewish Diaspora. Imagine the Ladino songs of Spain mingled with Flamenco; pop songs of the 1920s; from Klezmer for kids to Klezmer jamming with Latin beats; previously hidden classical gems unearthed and the influence of Jewish biblical history on Spirituals of the south – this is Tropical Jewish Sound.
In a new, improved two-stage format to keep the music going throughout, the Festival features Shir Ami Ensemble, Second Avenue Jewish Chorale with Reuben Hoch, Lloyd Reshard, Klezmer Company Orchestra, Susana Behar & Jose Luis Rodriguez with Niurca Marquez and Alejandra Czarny.
The Festival kicks off Saturday night, September 1 at 9pm with the premiere of Of Essence & Time/De La Esencia & El Tiempoa collaboration of Sephardic singer Susana Behar, Flamenco guitarist Jose Luis Rodriguez and Nu Flamenco dancer Niurca Marquez. The piece explores the mutual Andalusian roots of Sephardic tradition and Flamenco music and how each has influenced the other in origins as well as in the artists’ collaborative fusions.
