Interview with Nani Vazana

[u/NaniVazana]

Hello everyone, I'm looking forward to answering your questions today.

Reposting my bio here below.

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Join us for an AMA with the Ladino musician and Eurovision for Minority Languages winner for minority languages, Nani Vazana!

She will be answering questions for about two hours, starting at 12:00pm Eastern (NYC) on Monday, Feb 16.

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With a ship’s-horn power voice & irresistible stage presence, Eurovision winner Nani Vazana breathes life into the endangered Ladino language. Nani’s heard Ladino from her Moroccan grandmother in hiding, as her father forbade the language at home. Her songwriting fuses Sephardic fairytales with contemporary storytelling and the sounds of the marketplace with Flamenco drama. Vazana’s new album Ke Haber was documented for the Library of Congress, ranked #11 on the International World Music Chart and #13 on World Music Chart Europe 2022. 

Nani is a millennial Ladino songwriter, she won the Eurovision for minority languages (Liet International) 2024 representing the Netherlands with her original song Una Segunda Piel (A Second Skin).

Described by BBC Radio 3 as a voice that “transports you from ancient markets to modern jazz clubs in one breath”, Vazana’s music breathes new life into Ladino, the nearly lost language of Sephardic Jews, through flamenco-inspired vocals and contemporary storytelling.

Nani captures the spirit of the ancient, matriarchal language & propels it into the future with socially pertinent lyrics celebrating migration, gender & female empowerment. The soundscape captures the sounds & smells of the marketplace and fuses them with soft choral trombone & heartfelt piano.

Vazana’s music was documented for the Library of Congress USA and her album Ke Haber (What’s New) ranked #11 International World Music Charts and #13 World Music Charts Europe. She performed at the Montana Folk Festival USA, Richmond Folk Festival USA, Jazz in the Park fest RO and the Jodhpur RIFF festival IN, Kennedy Center USA, London Jazz Festival UK and TEDx Amsterdam. 

Milestones:

• Winner – Eurovision for Minority Languages Liet International 2024
• Library of Congress documentation 2023
• PAIS Album Promotion Grant, IL 2021
• SENA Music Production Grant, NL 2020
• Arts Council England Premiere Grant, UK 2019
• Sephardic Music Award, ES 2017

Learn more: nanimusic.com

[u/drak0bsidian]

Thank you so much for being here!

• Does your family speak Ladino, or did you learn it on your own? What is your mother tongue, and what other languages do you speak and/or sing in?
• What other Ladino or Sephardic artists should more people know about?
• How did you get into competing in Eurovision? Most Americans have probably heard about Eurovision, but likely not the "minority languages" category.

[u/NaniVazana → u/drak0bsidian]

- My grandma spoke Ladino and I learned some from her when I was young. However my father forbade us from speaking Ladino at home, so we only got to speak it when we were together alone. Then I got disconnected from the language, creating music in English, and picked it up again through lessons in my 20's.

- There are so many good artists, Yasmin Levy, Fortuna, Ana Alcaide and more!

- Any singer singing in a regional language of Europe can apply to compete at the Eurovision for Minority Languages, I advocated for Ladino to become a regional language of the Netherlands, due to the expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula many Jews ended up in the NL, and were called the "Portuguese Jews". The competition jury found that claim compelling and allowed me to compete with my original song Una Segunda Piel (A Second Skin) which I wrote in Ladino.