I had the pleasure of working with Flory years ago with Voices of Sepharad. She was a wonderful inspiration and dedicated songwriter and singer. Have a great new adventure Flory.

Jagoda Flory Jagoda Beloved “Nona” Flory Jagoda, 97, died peacefully on January 29, 2021 at Silverado Alexandria Memory Care Community. Peaceful and strong-spirited, that’s how Flory Jagoda’s daughters Betty and Lori would like her to be remembered. Flory Jagoda is a Bosnian-Jewish born guitarist, composer and singer-songwriter. She comes from a centuries-old tradition with roots in the Iberian Peninsula, and is the last remaining member of the Altaras family lineage. Her family was one of many Sephardic Jewish families forced to flee Spain and Portugal in the 14th and 15th centuries, eventually settling in Sarajevo. Jagoda’s life story is also marked by resettlement and fleeing. Escaping Nazi persecution, she finally put down her roots in the United States after World War II. Jagoda is known for her interpretation of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) songs and sevdalinka (Bosnian folk ballads). In 2002, Flory Jagoda received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor given to artists in the United States. Now 95 and suffering from advanced dementia, Jagoda relies on her children to tell her story. Her daughters, Lori and Betty, sat down with Oslobodjenje to speak about their mother’s contributions to the arts and Sephardic music, and her deep love for Bosnia and Herzegovina.