KGNU’s Doug Gertner hosts musicians Zoë Aqua and Nani Vazana. Zoë, a Denver native and recent Fulbright scholar, shares her experiences studying Transylvanian folk music and klezmer traditions in Romania. She reflects on learning from rural musicians in Transylvania, where she found influences from Jewish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Roma cultures.
Nani, based in Amsterdam with roots in Israel and Morocco, is one of the few artists composing new music in the endangered Ladino language (Judeo-Spanish). She recounts how a visit to Morocco reconnected her with her Ladino heritage, inspiring her to write new songs in the language. Nani also discusses her unique blend of traditional and modern Ladino music, including a composition based on 11th-century homoerotic poetry by a Jewish rabbi (Interview date: 9/17/2024)
