Cochin Jewish Women's songs: two events in Washington

[Allen W Thrasher]

The Hebrew Language Table & The Asian Division
in cooperation with
The Embassy of India and The Embassy of Israel
Present

THE WOMEN WHO KEPT THE SONGS
FROM INDIA TO ISRAEL:
THE MUSICAL HERITAGE OF COCHIN
Lecture and Musical Performance
Monday, April 7, 2008
Noon - 1:00 pm
Mumford Room, 6th Floor,
Madison Building
Accompanied by a
Special Book Display
10:00am-5:00pm
Asian Reading Room
LJ-150, Jefferson Building
For centuries Jewish women along India’s Malabar Coast filled
notebooks with
Jewish-themed songs they wrote and sang in Malayalam at weddings and
community celebrations and rituals. Indian, Israeli and American
researchers
aided a group of Cochin Israelis in restoring and bringing to modern
ears the
voices of their aunts and grandmothers. A performance by two of the
Nurit singers
and presentations by Indian and American scholars highlights the
program.
Program is free and open to the public
Contact: Dr. Allen Thrasher, 202-707-3732, athr at loc.gov 
Gail Shirazi, gshi at loc.gov or Dr. Anchi Hoh, 202-707-5673, adia at loc.gov

ADA accommodations 5 days in advance
(202) 707-6362 TTY or ADA at loc.gov 

ALSO:

The Women Who Kept
t h e S o n g s : ‘C o c hin’
Jewish Women’s Songs
in I n dia a n d I s r a el : 
> From India to Israel-The Musical Heritage of Cochin
For centuries Jewish women along India’s Malabar Coast filled
notebooks with music they sang in Malayalam at weddings, community
celebrations
and rituals. Now they have been painstakingly re-discovered, performed
and recorded in Israel, and been the subject of international exchange
on
the cultures of Hindus, Christians and Jews in India’s vibrant
multi-ethnic Kerala region. A unique local and international partnership
will present
this music and those key to its revival at three DC area events.
Smita Jassal (Anthropologist, Columbia University) ‘Some Motifs in
Indian Women’s Folksongs’
Barbara Johnson (Anthropologist, Ithaca College) ‘The Singers and the
Songs in Kerala’
Galia Hacco and Venus Lane (Nirit Singers of Israel) ‘The Legacy of
Our Grandmothers: Revival in Israel’
Scaria Zacharia (Linguist, Sanskrit University, Kerala, India)
Co-sponsored by the Embassies of India and Israel, University of
Maryland Center for Jewish Studies,
Office of International Programs, B’nai B’rith Klutznick, National
Jewish Museum, and Library of Congress
Asia Division Jewish Women’s Songs: Implications for Kerala Society
and Culture’
SUNDAY, APRIL 6 , 3 : 0 0 - 5 : 0 0 PM, PRINCE GEORGE’S ROOM 12 10
STAMP STUDENT UNION
www.international.umd.edu