A Picture is Worth a Thousand Melodies

In this performance linking melody with the visual arts, Ramón Tasat adds musical expression to the themes depicted by graphic artists convoked for the occasion, who explain their symbolism and artistic technique. It is an ideal presentation for institutional events, festivals and retreats.

 

Fiesta Sefarad

This musical production features songs from Spain, Morocco, Greece, Iraq and Israel, sung in Hebrew, Ladino and Judeo-Arabic. Ramón’s performance on guitar and voice is accompanied on bass, guitar, mandolin and percussion by other artists on stage.

 

Arvoles lloran por luvia

In this classical music evening, Ramón’s tenor voice is coupled with a piano to perform pieces by three recently discovered composers: Manuel García Morante’s songs of romance, Alberto Hemsi’s piano accompaniment for his Coplas Sefardíes and Federico Consolo’s arrangements for Italian religious poems.

Serenata Italiana

Ramón Tasat joins a pianist and a soprano to perform music from Italy, featuring religious poems original to the Sephardic community of Livorno, arranged and harmonized by violin virtuoso and composer Federico Consolo (1841-1906), and operatic duets by Mascagni, Donizetti and Verdi.

The High Holidays: a musical celebration

The aim of this gathering is to analyze the music of the Yamim Nora'im prior to their occurrence. The audience will participate in learning the melodies and meanings of some religious poems while Ramón discusses the proper Nusah for the holidays and seizes to analyze the role of the hazzanim and the extra meaning that music adds to the services.

Music & Spirituality

This is a personal look at the relationship that music has with spiritual realm. Through examples of classical religious music and contemporary musical liturgy, the aim is to examine the musician’s and the listener’s emotional connection to music. Together with the audience, Ramón will analyze the close association between music and prayer and describe some qualities of congregational and solo music. Finally, he will explain a number of techniques to help congregants feel more comfortable participating in religious services or singing anytime.

Pesach: a guide to a livelier seder

Guided by the book Pesach: a guide to a livelier seder, Ramón will review some of the many melodies helpful to prepare for the Pesah sedarim. He will seize the occasion to point out some of the most noticeable poetic and musical elements of the "Shirat haYam" (the Song at the Sea), the biblical portion that celebrates the final miracle in the liberation from Egypt.

Problems in Jewish Ethnomusicology

This presentation addresses some of the most common difficulties defining Jewish music as a subject of general interest. Ramón will analyze the tension between music and prayer from several angles and describe how religious and secular music interrelated through the centuries. Finally, he will talk about “traditional melodies” and “miSinai melodies” and observe the areas in which continuity, change, assimilation and/or acculturation are taking place among the different Jewish traditions.