That the performance takes place against the historical backdrop of New Amsterdam, where the dominant Jewish population during the Dutch period was Sephardic (originally from Spain and Portugal), connects the unique philosophical traditions of the Netherlands and the United States.

The music, which features Hebrew texts set in a classical operatic style, spans many moods, and covers a range of liturgical functions for Amsterdam’s Sephardic community. The program highlights the historical and cultural conditions that brought together many worlds— ancient and modern, divine and secular—mediated by the community’s Iberian past and integration into a Dutch identity.

The performance features two countertenors, violins, cello, and harpsichord.