U.S. Premiere Of LA NONA KANTA: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF FLORY JAGODA Set for Temple Beth Hillel

On Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 8 p.m., the national premiere of "La Nona Kanta: The Remarkable Life of Flory Jagoda" will take place at Temple Beth Hillel, 20 Baker Lane in South Windsor, Conn. The live concert and multi-media presentation celebrate the life and work of Flory Altarac Jagoda, the National Heritage Award-winning, Bosnian-born Sephardic singer and composer who is known worldwide as the Keeper of the Flame of Sephardic and Ladino music. The event is performed by Trio Sefardi, a Northern Virginia-based ensemble of musicians who each played with Flory, now age 95, for many years.

"La Nona Kanta: (translation: The Grandmother Sings) The Remarkable Life of Flory Jagoda" is presented by Temple Beth Hillel's Congregation Beth Ahm Legacy Fund, in collaboration with the National Institute for Holocaust Documentation at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

In filmed interviews, Jewish Flory Jagoda shares her life's experiences and tells how music helped her escape from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia when she was a teenager; how she made a life in the U.S. and turned the tragic fate of her family and Balkan Sephardic culture into a celebration of five centuries of faith and tradition, giving meaning to the rest of her life, and delighting audiences worldwide. Her recorded narration alternates with live performances of her Ladino music by Trio Sefardi, and features photos from the Altarac Family archives and video from the film documentary "Flory's Flame" (courtesy of JEMGLO).

"Music is universal," explains Cantor Scott M. Harris of Temple Beth Hillel in South Windsor. "Jews too have developed their own musical traditions and we have carried these melodies to the many lands we have settled and have taken them with us from the many lands we have been forced from. Thank you to Trio Sefardi for perpetuating for future generations the music of the Sephardim," Cantor Harris adds. "We invite people of all faiths to come join us at this wonderful event."

"This special event is the first in a series of annual programs that will be presented by Temple Beth Hillel's Congregation Beth Ahm Legacy Fund," explains Marcia Heneson, a Board Member of Temple Beth Hillel who also was a member of the former Congregation Beth Ahm. Last summer, the 68-year-old Windsor synagogue merged with Temple Beth Hillel of South Windsor. "Members of our former Congregation Beth Ahm established this fund to provide an ongoing voice for our past house of worship in the form of meaningful, educational programs."

Trio Sefardi was founded in 2010 to celebrate and continue the legacy of Flory Jagoda and that of Sephardic communities in the Balkans and Turkey. It is comprised of: West Hartford native Susan Feltman Gaeta, Flory's former apprentice in the Virginia Humanities' Folklife Apprenticeship Program whose brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Elyse Feltman, are Temple Beth Hillel members; Howard Bass, Flory's longtime guitar accompanist and former Cultural Arts Manager at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian; and Director of the acclaimed HESPERUS ensemble Tina Chancey, who performed with Flory for over 15 years. The trio's featured performances include the John F. Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, and with Flory Jagoda at the Library of Congress. For more information, go to www.triosefardi.com.

Tickets for May 4th's "La Nona Kanta: The Remarkable Life of Flory Jagoda" are $20.00 and include refreshments after the event. Tickets may be purchased in advance by phone (credit card) or at the door. To purchase advance tickets, call Temple Beth Hillel at 860-282-8466. More information at www.tbhsw.org.

Affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism, Temple Beth Hillel was formed in 1960 in South Windsor, Conn. and, in 2000, moved into its current building on the corner of Governors Highway and Baker Lane in the same town. Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman and Cantor Scott M. Harris are the religious leaders of the congregation. Temple Beth Hillel holds services in English and Hebrew, has an active religious school, and is very involved in social action and social justice. In June 2018, it merged with the former Congregation Beth Ahm of Windsor, with both congregations joining in a 10-mile ceremonial Torah Walk from the former Windsor synagogue to its new home in South Windsor. For more information, call 860-282-8466, or visit www.tbhsw.org.

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