"The Jewish Soul" To watch the show

A unique Ladino (old Jewish Spanish dialect) project, where the Ladino music is given a place of honor and dignity on a stage of a concert hall and is done in a virtuosio and sweeping style.

The concert was first staged in May in the Bulgarian Hall in Sofia, Bulgaria and was produced with the support of the Israeli embassy. The concert which caused tremendous real excitement with the audience was very successful and is due to
Be staged on the 15th November 2008 in The Hague with the sponsorship of the Israeli Embassy in Holland and will be attended by the queen.

"The Jewish Soul" is a concert with a very special and classical concept. It is a concert with a large Symphony orchestra, special unique impressive orchestrations of the Ladino music. The orchestrations include arrangements for the trumpet and "shofar" and were recorded onto a disc in 2008 in Vidin, a city in Bulgaria.
Today more than ever there is an importance to preserving the tunes and songs of this legacy of hundreds of years, that has been passed on from generation to generation
From father to son, from mother to daughter and has been kept alive within the community of Ladino speakers.
The songs, tunes and the atmosphere of the Spanish descendants has been kept alive in the diaspora and has been passed on through the generations.

During the last generations, unfortunately, the legacy is slowly dying out and there is concern that it will disappear completely from our lives. For this reason we have taken it upon ourselves to make and effort and ensure the preservation of this beautiful music.
We hope that this concert which will thrill those that grew up with Ladino and will reach the hearts of music lovers where ever they might be and will expose as many people as possible to this old and honorable legacy.

The initiative, the arrangements and the concept wrote and arranged the Jewish conductor and composer, Benjamin Ashkenazi the current guest conductor in a number of European orchestras.
The creations ? music is played by Arik Davidov of Israel, an International trumpeter Soloist, who performs tunes in his unique and moving style while interacting in his charming and humorous manner with the audience. Arik, served as a Soloist in the
IDF orchestra during his army service and today performs solo with many local and international orchestras.
Ashkenzi was born in Bulgaria and Davidoff is the son of Bulgarian immigrants, both of them are descendants of the Ladino heritage and their love and affinity for this heritage stem from their homes.
The concert includes Jewish Spanish songs in Ladino: "Tzur Mishelo", "Secharchret", "Adio", "King Nimrod' and others. One of the tunes played in the concert called "shofar in the desert" was written by Arik Davidov and is performed on a shofar accompanied by an orchestra.

We would be delighted if you would assist in promoting our concert in the various countries amongst music and culture lovers both in the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.