The sessions led by Ramon Tasat will focus on Ladino and Sephardic melodies
and traditions in Jewish liturgy and prayers.  Born in Buenos Aires, Tasat is a gifted tenor who learned Ladino, the language of the Sephardic people, as a youngster.  His grandparents were immigrants from Syria and Turkey, two of the areas Jews of southern Spain (Sephardim) fled to when expelled from Spain in 1492.  He studied at the Manuel de Falla Conservatory of Music, the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, and the University of Texas at Austin.  Among his accomplishments, he has toured Europe, performed at the Kennedy Center and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and given workshops at the Smithsonian Institution. His ten recordings include music from Spain, Morocco, Greece, Iraq and Israel, as well as popular music of Argentina and Italy.