Isaac Levy

Isaac Levy 1919-1977 Was A Turkish-Born Musicologist Collector Of Sephardic Music And Singer. Born In Manisa Near İzmir In 1919 At The Age Of Three He Moved With His Family To Palestine. He Studied In Conservatories In Jerusalem And Tel Aviv And Went On To Work Both As A Composer And As A Cantor. After The Creation Of The State Of Israel He Was Appointed Head Of The Ladino Department At Israel's National Radio Station. His Life's Work Was Devoted To The Collection And Preservation Of The Songs Of Sephardic Jews These Songs Had Been Passed Down Orally From Generation To Generation For More Than 500 Years. During His Lifetime He Published Four Books Containing Sephardic Romances And Another Ten Volumes Of Liturgical Songs. He Also Recorded Many Of These Songs For The National Radio. His Daughter Yasmin Levy Is An Israeli Singer-Songwriter Of Judaeo-Spanish Music. He Died In Jeresulam In 1977. read less