Born in 1923 in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Flory Jagoda learned songs from her grandmother, or “Nona” as she calls her, who knew the musical traditions passed down through their Sephardic Jewish family. Sephardic Jews, who speak Judeo-Espanol or Ladino, settled in the Balkan region after they were forced into exile from Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth century.
When Flory was seventeen, her father, becoming aware of the impending danger to Jewish residents of Zagreb, told Flory she had to flee. He gave her a forged train ticket, with a non-Jewish name, and her accordion, which she called her “harmonica.” Flory says that she played the accordion to allay her fears, and the conductor on the train never even asked for her ticket. She credits that accordion with saving her life. Later she learned that 42 of her family members were killed, including her beloved Nona.
While living in a relocation camp in Italy, she met Harry Jagoda, a U.S. army officer. They married in 1946 and moved to Northern Virginia. To honor her Nona, Flory has made it her life’s mission to preserve the songs, music, and language of her Ladino family.
Flory is a gifted composer of new songs firmly rooted in the Sephardic tradition, and she has spent her life teaching, recording, and performing across the United States and internationally. In 2002, Flory received an NEA National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor granted to a traditional artist in the United States. One of her most well known songs is the internationally recognized Hannakuh anthem, “Ocho Kandelikas.”
Listen to Flory sing in Ladino and talk about her nona’s songs at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase:
Read the story of Flory’s restored accordion – Daily Progress, October 5, 2014 by David Mauer
Master of the Sephardic Jewish ballad tradition Flory Jagoda. Photo by Morgan Miller/Virginia Folklife Program.
Apprentice Susan Gaeta learns from master artist Flory Jagoda. Photo by Morgan Miller/Virginia Folklife Program.
Apprentice Susan Gaeta and master artist Flory Jagoda. Photo by Morgan Miller/Virginia Folklife Program.
Flory Jagoda holds her Hohner III Student Harmonica (accordion). Photo by Pat Jarrett/VFH Staff.
Flory Jagoda, left, sings with Aviva Chernick in her music room.
Pat Jarrett/The Virginia Folklife Program
Flory Jagoda, left, sings with Aviva Chernick in her music room.
Pat Jarrett/The Virginia Folklife Program
The Paschall Brothers with Flory Jagoda and Susan Gaeta at the 2007 National Folklife Festival Photo by Skip Rowland
Susan Gaeta, former apprentice to Flory Jagoda in the tradition of Sephardic Ballad Singing, has become a master and is apprenticing singer and songwriter Gina Sobel. The musicians photographed at Sobel’s Charlottesville home on 10/5/17. Pat Jarrett/The Virginia Folklife Program 
Susan Gaeta, former apprentice to Flory Jagoda in the tradition of Sephardic Ballad Singing, has become a master and is apprenticing singer and songwriter Gina Sobel. The musicians photographed at Sobel’s Charlottesville home on 10/5/17. Pat Jarrett/The Virginia Folklife Program 
Susan Gaeta, former apprentice to Flory Jagoda in the tradition of Sephardic Ballad Singing, has become a master and is apprenticing singer and songwriter Gina Sobel. The musicians photographed at Sobel’s Charlottesville home on 10/5/17. Pat Jarrett/The Virginia Folklife Program
