This winter I was commissioned by @jewishcurrentsmag to reimagine and record āEl Imno Sosialistaā a Socialist Anthem from the Kansionario Sosialista (1919). It is available to stream today at Jewishcurrents.org as part of their anual winter gift.
Composed and arranged by myself (vocals, flute) and @michel_vloh (guitar, saz) engineered and mixed by @kayhan.mp3 (percussion, bass) in Los Ćngeles. Mastered at Electric Garden in Brooklyn.
I am deeply honored to have been brought on to this exciting project: A volume of Jewish Currents containing a brilliant essay written by Devin E. Naar on the forgotten Sephardic Socialist movement of the early 20th century. Alongside this new essay, the JC winter gift includes six selections from a 1919 Ladino Socialist Songbook, two of which have been brought to life with new recordings by Daniel Elias, @simoneharp , and myself. Learn more and listen now at jewishcurrents.org/ladinoleftsongs (link in bio).
Mexican Ashkenazi IndigiJewess Lu Coy led 1000+ Jews and allies in Yiddish and Ladino song last week as we shut down Hollywood Boulevard to demand a ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza.
@lu_isms ā a queer multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who mines inspiration from the stories and music of their heritages ā channeled pre- and anti-Zionist Jewish musical traditions as a powerful expression of solidarity with Palestinians. Their voice guided us through ancestral memories of oppression and resistance across the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish diasporas, helping us connect our peopleās historical experiences to Palestiniansā liberation struggle today.
The song Lu sings in this video, āIn Kampfā (āIn Struggleā), was one of the most popular workersā songs written on Turtle Island (America) in 1889 by the Russian Jewish labor poet David Edelstadt. It became a beloved song of Jewish workers around the world, was absorbed into Yiddish folk song, and was sung in Yiddish schools.
As Lu said at the action, Edelstadtās lyrics āring truer to the struggle of the people of Palestine than ever,ā and they give us hope and strength as we organize in solidarity ā¤ļøš¤š¤š Viva Palestina! Di gantse Palestine vet vern befrayt!
āWe are driven and despised,
we are tortured and persecuted,
for we cherish the poor and the weak.
We are shot and hanged,
robbed of our lives and our rights,
for we demand truth
and freedom for the downtrodden, those enslaved.
Cast us into iron chains,
tear us apart like bloody beasts-
you can only kill our bodies,
you will never destroy our spirit.
Murder us, tyrants,
but new fighters will come
and we will fight on and on,
until the world is free.ā
Videography: @mintymedia@kevinhorn@waaaggs@beanfrijol
Editing: @ellie.zarr Ā @courtesytabs
"Today, as our world edges further into fascism and Indigenous, trans and queer bodies are increasingly criminalized and erased, I feel an urgent need for spiritual and ancestral support. I want to engage with and learn from the sentinels of an Indigenous, gender-expansive past. I look to Tecciztecatl for guidance into an uncertain future."
Follow the link in our bio to read the latest 5Questions interview, with I CARE IF YOU LISTEN contributor Yaz Lancaster!
@lu_isms , @calartsredcat , @vibration.group , @blonderedheadofficial , @__san_cha__ , @fourlarks , @l_i_l_l_e_t_h , @estrellx_supernova , @annaluisapetrisko , @songsoffilm , #sebastianpeterslazaro, #paradisekhanmale @yeehawyaz
This Friday, 2-3pm tune into another episode of Paradigm Power Hour on @dublab . I plan on DJing resistance music and cathartic cultural hymns that preserve our sanity and culture through oppression. I will share some beautiful Iranian tracks that feel comforting to listen to right now as well as political Iranian music and history that lays bare the nuance that so often gets lost in the binary logic of empires. Iāll finish off the show with a live interview with @lu_isms . Lu will be discussing their anti-zionist archival Jewish cultural work, including their new song El Imno Sosialista, a leftist Ladino hymn they created with @jewishcurrentsmag .
[šØUPDATE: 4/17 WE ARE SOLD OUT AND NOT ACCEPTING NEW ORDERS AT THIS TIME šØ you can email [email protected] and ask to be alerted when more are available]
(Update: for rates on international shipping email # of books and destination to [email protected])
We mailed out our first batches of songbooks and Iām happy to say we are now accepting new orders! (Link in bio)
Each songbook contains liberatory Jewish tunes and poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries, translations, and glimpses into the lives of some leftist ancestors who sang these songs.
The songbook also comes with a playlist of voice notes from me for each tune so you can learn the melodies!!
Thank you to everyone who has ordered a copy and contributed to supporting this work. May this book be a learning tool and a bridge to ancestors you can be proud of. May their memories serve as a political compassā one that orients us in this wildly violent time, and roots us in our shared struggle for liberation across generations.
LU IN BLUE: honored to welcome L.A.-based musician, composer, artist, activist, educator Lu Coy @lu_isms to our portrait series, wearing BUTTON in Bic Blue from the spring/summer collection. ā
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Coy's opera "Becoming the Moon", which began with a commission by the Getty Research Institute in 2023, illuminated REDCAT's New Original Works Festival last fall, inspired by the Florentine Codex's account of Tecciztecatl, a gender expansive Mexica deity of the moon.ā
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Photographed in Los Angeles by Josef Jasso @josefjassophoto at Vision Studio @visionstudiola . ā
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Makeup: Valerie Vonprisk @valerievonprisk ā
Hair: Ryan Taniguchi @ryannyc ā
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š in bio for 360 views and VTOā
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#laEyeworks #UncensoredVisions #Button #LosAngeles #WideWorld #OnePair #SeeThroughWalls
Help my friend @qudaih__ahmad raise money for cooking gas, water and critical medications!
Immediate goal of $392, and Iāve shared the link to support him IN MY BIO
Since my last update for you, the tent we got him was ruined from bullet holes, another was flooded and washed away, heās been in and out of the hospital for surgery. His brother Mohammed recently fell ill, needing several blood transfusions. He and several of Ahmedās siblings suffer from thalassemia, a genetic blood disease. He and his family need support please donate and share!
FREE YIDDISH EVENT
SUNDAY 2PM AT SOCAL ARBETER RING/ WORKERS CIRCLE @circlesocal
Ruth Judkowitz (socal WCās benevolent chairmentsh) will give a lecture discussing her research on CHAIM SCHWARTZ ā A politically active communist poet from Belarus who migrated to the
US in the 20s and became a central figure in LAs Jewish literary & political circles.
We will then perform a set of Yiddish songs written by various Jewish composers who set Schwartzās poems to music in the first half of the 20th century.
There are no known recordings of these songs and itās likely they havenāt been performed in over 50 years!
RSVPs via email to [email protected] are appreciated š«¶š¼
Again the event is FREE but we will also gladly accept donations to help repair the Workers Circleās roof which was damaged during last weeks storms.
Becoming the Moon opens TONIGHT
At @calartsredcat and runs Nov. 20-22
I am so excited to present a fully staged production of this work for the FIRST TIME EVER as part of REDCATās New Original Works Festival!!
Only a small number of in person tickets available so get them NOW REDCAT.org (link in bio)
šB E C O M I N G | T H E | M O O N š
An opera illuminating the Florentine Codexās account of Tecciztecatl, a gender expansive Mexica deity of the moon.
Created by and staring @lu_isms
Performer/Shadow @shebreaks4rainbows
Indigenous Mesoamerican Instruments @christopher_garcia_music
Director @annaluisapetrisko
Creative Producer @sebrador
Visual Designer / Film Editor @bird_of_paradigm
Costume and Scenic design @maeamaria
Light Designer Chu-Hsuan Chang
Makeup by @vv1lder and @valerievonprisk
Photos by @angeloriggi
Week Three of NOW Festival begins tomorrow! See the lineup for performances by LA artists 11/20ā11/22:
š BECOMING THE MOON š by Lu Coy (Music Performer Composer MFA 18) excavates queer narratives from colonial materials, combining experimental electronic music with virtuosic vocal performance and pre-Columbian instrumentation.
š” NOTES ON BUILDING A FOUNDATION, 1963 š” by jeremy deājon guyton is an interdisciplinary dance performance that dares to reimagine survival through the unrelenting search for home.
š OPEN HOUSE š by Luna Izpisua Rodriguez (Art and Theater Directing MFA 24) imagines a foreclosure sale of of a beachfront home in Southern California in a meditation on erosion, both geological and psychic.
See the link in our bio to purchase tickets.
Photos by @angeloriggi
#LAArt #CelebrateLA #ExperimentalPerformance
The third and final week of the New Original Works (NOW) Festival begins this Thursday! 11/20ā11/22 see new works by Lu Coy, jeremy deājon guyton, and Luna Izpisua Rodriguez.
š Lu Coy, BECOMING THE MOON: Coy (Music Performer Composer MFA 18) crafts an opera that illuminates the Florentine Codexās account of Tecciztecatlāa gender-expansive Mexica moon deity.
š jeremy deājon guyton, NOTES ON BUILDING A FOUNDATION, 1963: Blending lyrical text, fluid movement, and nostalgic audio-visual elements, this poetic autofiction is a meditation on legacy, displacement, and the desire for sanctuary.
šļø Luna Izpisua Rodriguez, OPEN HOUSE: Directed by Izpisua Rodriguez (Art and Theater Directing MFA 24), is a meditation on erosion, both geological and psychicāon how losing land can feel like losing self.
See the link in our bio to purchase tickets.
#LAArt #CelebrateLA #ExperimentalPerformance
@calartsredcat NOWfest kicks off TODAY with 3 weeks of original works by LA artists.
An excerpt of my original opera āBecoming The Moon,ā inspired by the texts of the Florentine Codex, can be seen WEEK 3 of the festival 11/20-11/22 8pm at @calartsredcat in DTLA
I am so excited to present a fully staged production of this work for the FIRST TIME EVER!!
Tickets on sale now at REDCAT.org (link in bio)
Created by and staring @lu_isms
Featuring @shebreaks4rainbows in a supportive movement role
Mesoamerican breath and percussion @christopher_garcia_music
Movement and Stage Direction @annaluisapetrisko
Creative Producer @sebrador
Costume and stage design @maeamaria
Visuals/video by @bird_of_paradigm
Lighting design by Chu-Hsuan Chang
Additional choreography by @estrellx_supernova
Foto @angeloriggi with creative assistance by @voglerbrigge