Concerts

Yasmin Levy returns to the Old Town School of Folk Music in Lincoln Square on Wednesday, March 16 to sing from her newest collection of Sephardic songs. Speaking of Levy’s first Chicago appearance in 2009, OTSFM programmer Alisa Baum told me: “Everyone who was here said she was one of the best performers they'd ever seen. She is a rising star [on the world music scene].”

Levy’s Turkish-born father Isaac was a Jerusalem cantor dedicated to preserving Ladino tradition. By the time of his death (when Yasmin was just an infant), he had already published four books of romantic songs and ten books of liturgical songs. “Forty years from now, people won’t speak this language and the only way for it to survive is through the Sephardic songs,” Levy told an interviewer in 2006. “I will sing Ladino songs for the rest of my life—for the Jewish people, my father and the world.”

I’ve listened to Levy’s award-winning CD La Juderia several times since receiving OTSFM’s press release, and I’m eager to see her live performance. To order tickets, call the OTSFM box office at (773) 728-6000, or visit their website: http://OldTownSchool.org.

Levy will be accompanied by Yemen Blues, an Israeli band on its first American tour, but note that the workshop originally planned for Thursday has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.