The Cuba Jewish Music Project
Ladino rocker Sara Aroeste and Cuban-American musician Roberto Rodriguez have teamed up to help spread Jewish culture in Cuba through the use of music. After a recent trip to Havana where the 2 met with jewish communities and performed songs for them, they were floored by the lack of access and exposure to Jewish music in Cuba.
“By 1959, 90% of Cuba’s 15,000 Jews had left the country in response to the Cuban Revolution. Today, 1,500 Jews remain, and though they regularly receive medicine, clothing and Judaica from different Jewish organizations, they have no music that connects them to Judaism.”
The Cuban-Jewish Music Project aims to fix this by collecting Jewish CDs of any kind (classical, folk, Yiddish, klezmer, Sephardic, Israeli, punk, rock, jazz, children’s, avant-garde, hip hop), and listening devices, to establish music libraries across Cuba. The first such library will be housed in the largest synagogue in Havana — the Patronato.
Donations of CD’s and listening devices (CD players, discmen, plugs/adapters & headphones) can be sent to:
Aroeste Music LLC
Attn: Cuba-Jewish Music Project
255 W. 108th St., #5B Mr. 3000 move
New York, NY 10025