Voice of the Turtle Interim Narrative Report
January, 1998

Judith Wachs, Director

1. Major Accomplishments

Since March, 1997, Voice of the Turtle has achieved several major milestones:
a. The group completed a recording series of five Volumes, on CD and Cassette of a unique series begun in the 1988, The Paths of Exile Quincentenary Series. The last recording of the series, "Full Circle: Musical Traditions of the Spanish Jews of Jerusalem, was produced by Voice of the Turtle, and released in December, 1997 as scheduled.

b. This latest recording, the series, and the group received critical acclaim from the Boston Globe in a major feature which appeared in December, 1997.

c. The group produced its 19th annual Hanukkah concert for Boston area audiences at Paine Hall at Harvard University. The concert received critical acclaim in the Boston Globe, and was sold out.

d. The group was invited to participate in a series of lectures for an ethnomusicology project at Harvard University. The lectures were recorded on video-tape, and became part of an ongoing study conducted by the Harvard Music Department.

e. The group also received critical praise from concerts given on tour, including Wisconsin Sentinel and the Richmond Journal.

f. A website was launched, designed by Derek Burrows of Voice of the Turtle, beginning a major outreach via the Internet - featuring information about the group, the instruments used, relevant information about each of the recordings, including all texts and translations. This will continue to expand to become a major resource for those interested in the subject of Judeo-Spanish Music and Folktales.

2. The major weakness of the group continues to be marketing, and we are addressing these issues with our management by providing more marketing via the Internet, and through development of new materials to interest sponsors.

3. There were no major changes in staffing, financial situation, or programming during the past year.

4. During the coming year Voice of the Turtle plans to develop a new recording project which will focus upon the ballads, the romanças of the Spanish Jews. This is a very important part of the repertoire of the Spanish Jews. We have, heretofore, recorded a small number of this material in our recordings, but have explored many which were put on hold during the recent projects. We foresee that this focus will result in a new series.
Pending funding, we are also considering recording the next volume of our holiday series-Purim Songs of the Spanish Jews. Both of these projects will involve extensive development, rehearsal, and fundraising.