CAPA Presents Yasmin Levy at the Lincoln Theatre 11/12

In her deep, spiritual, and moving style of singing, Yasmin Levy preserves and revives the most beautiful songs from her Ladino/Judeo-Spanish heritage. With her distinctive and emotive style, Levy has incorporated the more "modern" sounds of Andalusian flamenco and Turkey into medieval Ladino/Judeo-Spanish songs, as well as combined instruments such as the darbuka, oud, violin, cello, and piano.

CAPA presents Yasmin Levy at the Lincoln Theatre (769 E. Long St.) on Thursday, November 12, at 8pm. Tickets are $25 at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000. The Lincoln Theatre Ticket Office will open two hours prior to the performance. Students between the ages of 13-19 can purchase $5 High Five tickets while available. This performance is made possible through generous support from the Morris and Fannie Skilken Family Foundation and Congregation Tifereth Israel, with additional support from the Lenore Schottenstein Endowment of the Columbus Jewish Foundation and the Melton Center of Jewish Studies of The Ohio State University.

Born in Bakaa, Jerusalem, Israel, Levy's musical interests began at six years of age when she was taught to play piano. At 20, she began singing seriously, but it wasn't until a year later that she made her first public performance as a guest in a concert given by her mother. Other local concerts followed, but it wasn't until WOMEX 2002 that she made her international debut and embarked on a singing career.

Her first album, Romance and Yasmin, focused on Ladino music, Turkish influences, and was greatly influenced by the work of her late father, Yitzhak Levy. His life's work was devoted to the collection and preservation of the songs of Sephardic Jews, passed down orally from generation to generation over a period of more than 500 years. Sadly, Yitzhak Levy passed away when Levy was one. Nevertheless, she grew up knowing her father's love for this music and his heritage, as passed along by her mother, Kochava.

For her second album, the highly acclaimed La Juderia, Levy continued her work with the Ladino tradition but began to experiment more with the flamenco influences that date back to her residence in Spain in 2002. In that year, she was awarded a scholarship by the Christina Herren Foundation to study flamenco in Seville where she was strongly influenced by its unique singing style.

Her much-anticipated third album, Mano Suave, was released in October 2007 and marked a mature return to her Ladino roots. Continuing Levy's tradition of using the best musicians available, the album features players from Iran, Armenia, Greece, Paraguay, Israel, Turkey, and Spain. Mano Suave also charted in the Top 10 of Sweden's mainstream pop music charts and has performed extremely well across Europe as well as in Australia and Israel.

Levy has received three nominations from the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards, been nominated for Holland's prestigious Edison Award (the Dutch equivalent of the Grammys) for Best World Music Album, and been presented with the Anna Lindh Award for promoting cross-cultural dialogue, working with musicians covering three cultures, and connecting with the history of Spain.

In 2008, Levy was named Goodwill Ambassador for Children of Peace, a UK-based charity fighting to alleviate the plight of children caught up in the decades-old Middle East crisis. As part of this role, Levy has committed to giving at least two workshops a year to Middle Eastern children from all sides of the conflict, talking about her career and trying to instill children with the hope that through music they may still live their dreams.

Photo credit Gal Deren

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