Jun 11, 2025
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Yale Jewish Alumni Association and Yale Latino Alumni Network | Sephardic Culture from Yesterday to Today: A ‘Cook & Sing’ with Sarah Aroeste ’98
Join Sarah Aroeste (’98), international Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) singer/songwriter, author and activist, for an interactive experience to get a taste of Sephardic culture past and present. Through learning how to make the iconic bureka and singing some Ladino songs to match, enjoy this unique multi-sensory program that offers a glimpse into a rich tradition that has survived shifting centuries and borders to still inspire us today. Guaranteed to leave you hungry for more! Recipes and song sheets will be sent ahead to registrants. Learn about Sarah here: saraharoeste.com
Brought to you by the Yale Jewish Alumni Association (YJAA: https://www.yjaa.org/) and the Yale Latino Alumni Network (YLAN: https://yalelatinoalumninetwork.org/)
Sarah Aroeste writes and sings in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Those who left Spain, including Aroeste’s family, carried the medieval language with them to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, Ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including some Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Hebrew, and more.
This exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away. But the continued musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans centuries and crosses many geographic boundaries.
American born and trained in classical opera as a teenager at Westminster Choir College and then at Yale University, Aroeste became drawn to her Sephardic musical past after spending a summer in 1997 performing at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv. There, she had the fortune of studying with Nico Castel, one of the world’s great Ladino singers and coaches at the Metropolitan Opera, with whom she learned she shared a similar Sephardic background. Continuing to study with Castel upon her return to the US, Aroeste started incorporating classical Ladino songs into her opera repertoire. She quickly realized that Ladino, not opera, was her true musical passion and soon after made the leap to studying Ladino full time.
Since then, Aroeste has been a vocal advocate for exposing new audiences to Sephardic culture and has worked tirelessly to keep Ladino alive for a new generation. Aroeste is one of few Ladino composers today who writes her own music, and whether with her original compositions or with interpreting Ladino folk repertoire, she has developed a signature style combining traditional Mediterranean Sephardic sounds with contemporary influences such as rock, pop and jazz.
In addition to producing music, Aroeste has also spoken widely and published countless articles about ways to preserve Ladino. She is especially recognized for her work in introducing Ladino to young families. In 2016, Aroeste's Ora de Despertar children's project won a coveted Parents' Choice Award. She is currently working on writing Sephardic-themed books for children. Her first book, Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom was published March 2020 with Kar-Ben publishing and PJ Library, and her newest book, Mazal Bueno!, was published in Spring 2023. She has three more forthcoming in 2025!
With her unwavering commitment to preserving Sephardic life, Sarah Aroeste has received notable attention over the years for her innovation in working to make its music and culture more accessible and exciting to new and larger audiences.
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