Ladino beginnings In the late 1990s, Aroeste was working for the
Foundation for Jewish Culture in New York, where she created The New Jewish Musics Initiative. She was disappointed that, while there was a revival of
Ashkenazi klezmer music at that time, there was no similar revival for
Sephardic music. Aroeste has been at the forefront of the contemporary Ladino music revival ever since.
A la Una and Puertas Aroeste's first two albums, 2003's
A la Una: In the Beginning and 2007's
Puertas, were primarily Ladino updates of traditional Sephardic standards. it features the rapping of poet Vanessa Hidary, and its opening track samples from a 1971 speech by
Gloria Steinem. The songs teach simple concepts in Ladino and range in themes from learning about mealtimes to body parts to animals on a farm. The album won a coveted Parents' Choice Award for music. With this recording, Aroeste has been credited for helping to perpetuate Ladino culture for a new generation. In July 2017 Aroeste released a bilingual illustrated children's book of the same name, as a companion to the recording.
Together/Endjuntos Aroeste's fifth album is an all-original bilingual (Ladino/English) holiday album that cycles the Hebrew calendar.
Monastir Aroeste's sixth album is a musical homage to the once-thriving Sephardic community of Monastir. It features 30 musicians from 5 countries, singing in 3 languages to honor the Macedonian Jewish community of Aroeste's family, destroyed in WWII. One of the songs in the album,
Estreja Mara honors the memory of
Estreya Ovadya, the Macedonian Jewish partisan from Monastir who died in battle against the Nazis in 1944. The album was selected as Best Jewish Album of the Year (2021) by Jewish media outlet, Alma.
Hanuká Aroeste's seventh album is an all-Ladino recording of Hanuka songs old and new.
Billboard named one of the tracks, a cover of "
Ocho Kandelikas", as one of the eight great Hanukkah songs of 2021.
Savor Aroeste's eighth concept album is a multi-sensory conversation between Sephardic music, food, and history. In partnership with Sephardic Chef Susan Barocas, Savor pairs ten Ladino songs about food with recipes and cooking videos by acclaimed female chefs who each works to preserve Sephardic culture in her work. ==Performances==