# Lily Henley Oral History

In celebration of Jewish American History Month, the American Folklife Center presented an evening of Sephardic Jewish music with Lily Henley. In addition to the concert, Henley was recorded in this conversation with Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center staff. They discussed her career, the tradition of Sephardic music, and the Ladino language. Lily Henley is a talented singer, songwriter, and violinist who performs traditional and original songs in Ladino, an endangered language that evolved from 15th century Castilian Spanish, with influences from Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and other languages of the Jewish diaspora. Her music mixes old and new sounds, creating a contemporary musical offering that keeps Sephardic traditions relevant for future generations. In addition to performing ancient Ladino ballads and love songs, Henley is one of the few songwriters composing new songs in Ladino.

- Kind: Interview
- Year: 2026
- Runtime: 39 min
- By: Winick, Stephen
- Genres: History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/video-12186/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/video-12186?play=1)