Sarah's Introductin to Orijinal (en bivo):
Twenty-five years ago, I began a musical journey in Ladino. I was drawn to the language because it connected me to my Sephardic ancestors and to a musical tradition that had survived for centuries against all odds. My earliest recordings were devoted to preserving that remarkable legacy and introducing it to new audiences.
Then, over time, my relationship with the language began to change.
As I grew as an artist, I realized that Ladino had become more than a language through which I could honor the past. It had become the language through which I could tell my own story.
I’ve discovered that many of my songs begin the same way: with a question I can't stop asking. The eleven songs I’ve chosen to include on Orijinal (en bivo) each began with a question, image, or story I couldn’t let go of. Written over the course of my career and brought together here in live performance, these are the songs I most wanted to revisit. They explore the people, places, traditions, and experiences that have shaped my life. Together, they reflect on ancestry and belonging, motherhood and memory, grief and gratitude, resilience and hope.
People sometimes ask why I write original songs in Ladino. The answer is simple: because this is the language in which my creativity feels most at home. As I look back over the past twenty-five years, these songs have become the body of work I'm most proud of. They feel like the clearest expression of who I am as an artist.
Ladino is often celebrated as a language of memory. It certainly is. But for me, it is also a language of creativity—a living language that continues to grow through the voices of those who speak, sing, write, and create in it today. I feel grateful to have found my own voice within that tradition, and grateful to everyone who has listened along the way.
To the extraordinary musicians who brought these songs to life once again, to my family, friends, and supporters, and to each of you who has joined me on this journey over the past twenty-five years, thank you.
Sarah Aroeste
