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Sephardic Music with the Lily Henley Trio: Homegrown Plus
Welcome to the latest post in the Homegrown Plus series, featuring Sephardic music with singer and songwriter Lily Henley and her trio. Just like other blogs in the series, this one includes a concert video, a video interview with Lily Henley, and connections to Library of Congress collections. We presented this concert back in May, in celebration of Jewish American History Month. In addition, the entire Homegrown series this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the American Folklife Center.
Lily Henley is a talented singer, songwriter, and fiddler who performs traditional and original songs in the Ladino language. Henley’s music is influenced by Sephardic Jewish traditions from across Europe and western Asia, as well as by Celtic music, American old-time, and other folk music genres. Ladino, also called Judeo-Spanish, is an endangered language that evolved from 15th century Castilian Spanish, with influences from Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and other languages of the Jewish diaspora. Ladino is spoken by Sephardic Jewish communities across the globe. In addition to performing ancient Ladino ballads and love songs, Henley is one of the few songwriters composing new songs in Ladino. Her music mixes old and new sounds, creating a contemporary musical offering that keeps Sephardic traditions relevant for future generations.
This concert by Lily was special for several reasons. For one, she usually performs solo or in a duo with her partner Duncan Wickel. For this concert, however, at Lily’s request we were able to also feature bassist Andy Ryan, one of Lily’s favorite collaborators. For this reason, we’re able to say we featured the Lily Henley Trio.
Duncan Wickel, Lily Henley, and Andrew Ryan. Photo by Andrea Decker.
More importantly, though, we had been trying to get Lily in our series for about three years, but we hadn’t been able to make the dates work. The 2026 concert date we finally booked was quite close to Lily’s due date with her first child. Lily and Duncan became parents about 3 weeks later, on June 2. Their baby goes by the name Wren! We suspect Wren’s arrival may cause at least a brief hiatus from touring, so we’re very glad we finally got to host her parents for one of their last concerts before that happened.
The concert was hosted in collaboration with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and in partnership with the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress.
We really enjoyed the trio’s renditions of old and new Ladino songs, along with a few American songs and fiddle tunes. Watch the concert in the player below–then scroll down for an interview with Lily!
In the Interview, I asked Lily Henley about her upbringing and early musical experiences, and how she became aware of Ladino and her Sephardic heritage. She gave me an overview of Ladino itself and her understanding of the language’s development. She told me how her background as both an American folk musician and a conservatory trained musician influenced her approach to Sephardic songs. She mentioned some of her mentors and influences, as well as her studies with Ladino scholars in Europe and Israel, including Marie-Christine Bornes Varol, Susana Weich-Shahak, and others.
Lily Henley and Duncan Wickel perform Sephardic Jewish music during the Homegrown Concert Series in celebration of the American Folklife Center’s 50th anniversary, May 13, 2026. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.
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Of course, we talked about her professional career as a musician and a recording artist, and her current work as an ethnomusicologist at Harvard. She’s a fascinating person to talk to, so please listen to the interview in the player below…then scroll down for collection connections and links!
## Collection Connections and Links
#### Friends and Partners
* First of all, visit Lily Henley online!
* This concert was presented in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month.
* The Concert was co-sponsored with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
* Community support was provided by Sephardic Heritage International DC.
#### Concerts and Other Videos with Sephardic Content
* Susana Behar Concert and Interview
* Three Concerts and an Interview with Flory Jagoda, Trio Sefardi, and other friends
* Nani Noam Vazana Concert and Interview
* Moroccan-Jewish Musical Memory: The Abraham Pinto Collection (Lecture by Edwin Seroussi)
* Musical Soundscapes of Morocco (Lecture by Samuel Torjman Thomas)
* Ladino Songs & the Sephardic Diaspora (Concert by Sarah Aroeste, Shai Bachar, and Ellie Falaris Ganelin)
#### Collection Guides
* Jewish Culture and Traditions: Resources in the American Folklife Center
* African, Jewish, and Middle Eastern Studies: Digital Resources at the Library of Congress
## Munchas Grasyas (“Thank You,” in Ladino)!
As always, thanks for watching and listening (and reading)!
The American Folklife Center’s Homegrown Concert Series brings music, dance, and spoken arts from across the country, and some from further afield, to the Library of Congress. For information on current concerts, visit the Folklife Concerts page at Concerts from the Library of Congress. For past concerts, visit the Homegrown Concerts Online Archive.
