Featured Events in Hoover in October, 2024 (June Updated)

Get ready to kick off our Festival with a rousing night of song that celebrates the richness of Sephardic culture! Sarah Aroeste, inspired by her family's Sephardic roots in N. Macedonia and Greece, has spent the last two decades bringing her contemporary vision for Sephardic culture- through music and books- to audiences around the world. Aroeste writes and sings in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Those who left Spain, including Aroeste’s family, carried the medieval language with them to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, Ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including some Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Hebrew, and more. This exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away. But the continued musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans centuries and crosses many geographic boundaries. American born and trained in classical opera as a teenager at Westminster Choir College and then at Yale University, Aroeste became drawn to her Sephardic musical past after spending a summer in 1997 performing at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv. There, she had the fortune of studying with Nico Castel, one of the world’s great Ladino singers and coaches at the Metropolitan Opera, with whom she learned she shared a similar Sephardic background. Continuing to study with Castel upon her return to the US, Aroeste started incorporating classical Ladino songs into her opera repertoire. She quickly realized that Ladino, not opera, was her true musical passion and soon after made the leap to studying Ladino full time. Since then, Aroeste has been a vocal advocate for exposing new audiences to Sephardic culture and has worked tirelessly to keep Ladino alive for a new generation. Aroeste is one of few Ladino composers today who writes her own music, and whether with her original compositions or with interpreting Ladino folk repertoire, she has developed a signature style combining traditional Mediterranean Sephardic sounds with contemporary influences such as rock, pop and jazz. Join us for an exciting Ladino-language concert open to all. Sponsored by Etz Chaim Sephardic Congregation and Gadi Boukai Realtor and his team with FC Tucker Company Information Source: JCC Indianapolis | eventbrite

Sun, Oct 27 | 4 pm | In-person at the JCC | $10 Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts Great writers come from all over the world. And that includes our home: Indiana. Celebrating the works of local writers, the JCC Indianapolis and Indiana Humanities proudly partner together to curate a star-studded panel of finalists and award-winners from the 2024 Indiana Authors Awards. The panel includes: Edward Fujawa, winner for Nonfiction, Janis Thorton, finalist in Nonfiction, and Ray Boomhower as moderator. In partnership with Indiana Humanities. Information Source: JCC Indianapolis | eventbrite

Mon, Oct 28 | 5:30 pm | In-person at the JCC | Free Cousins: Siblings of the HeART Gallery Reception Spouses Joani & Jeff Rothenberg and their Israeli cousin Yael Buxbaum have been making art together for decades--their collaborations and critiques of each other's work have pushed each of them to become better individual artists as they have been a constant source of inspiration. This exhibition features new works in painting, fused and blown glass, jewelry, mosaics and ceramics. “Indianapolis has been an ideal incubator for our artistic journey--the city and people have embraced the arts in all forms leading to a richer and more diverse culture”. Come to the JCC and experience this show as the colors, forms and painterly aspect of the exhibition is sure to be a visual standout of your week. Information Source: JCC Indianapolis | eventbrite