Balkan Music Night Performers

Beth Bahia Cohen Turkish Music Ensemble

• Beth Bahia Cohen is a violinist of Syrian Jewish and Russian Jewish heritage. Inspired at a young age by the sounds she heard at family gatherings, she went on to study with master musicians from Hungary, Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East. She plays the violin, viola, Greek lyras, Turkish bowed tanbur and kabak kemane, Norwegian hardingfele, and Egyptian rababa.


• Beth Bahia Cohen Turkish Music Ensemble will perform an acoustic set of traditional Turkish folk music in the Kafana.
  
  Band Members:
  Beth Bahia Cohen - kabak kemane, violin
  Fatih Acun - bağlama, vocals
  Ezgi Kurt - vocals
  Stefanos Athinaios - percussion
  

Boston Lykeion Ellinidon Dance Troupe

• The BLE Dance Troupe entertains audiences across New England with performances that embrace the diverse regional dance traditions and musical styles of the Hellenic world. The troupe performs year-round at cultural festivals, fundraisers, commemorations, and numerous other events.
  
  For Balkan Music Night, the troupe will perform a set of Greek dances, featuring authentic costumes, in the main Dance Hall.

Hinterlands

• Hinterlands conjures cinematic soundscapes where tradition meets experimental fire. Violinist Ben Russell and accordionist Matt Schreiber blend Appalachian drones, Balkan rhythms, and avant-garde textures into music that’s both ancient and boldly new. Their performances—spacious, emotional, and thrillingly unpredictable—reveal deep roots and fearless exploration. With backgrounds spanning Kronos Quartet to Romani function music, this duo dissolves musical borders, creating a world where improvisation and structure dance together. Hinterlands invites you into a wild, resonant journey through sound and feeling.
  
  For Balkan Music Night, the duo will perform a set of Balkan and Romani music in the Kefana.
• Band Members:
  Ben Russell - violin
  Matthew Schreiber - accordion
  

Iveria

• Originally formed in 1984 by alumni of the Yale Russian Chorus, Iveria is devoted to liturgical and folk music from the Republic of Georgia. They are based in the greater Boston area, and also sing on Saturday mornings with an international lineup on the web platform Jamulus. Iveria has a sister group based in New York state, the Kartuli Ensemble, and cordial relations with the group Darbazi in Toronto.
• Band Members:
  John Burt - First Tenor
  Matthew Abbate - Second Tenor
  Glenn Allin - Bass
  Thomas Pochapsky - Bass
  Endre Jobbagy - Bass
  David Geltman - Bass
  

Kavala Brass Band

• Kavala Brass Band plays traditional music of Northern Greece, with an exceedingly danceable repertoire that reflects the rich brass band practices of the region.
• Band Members:
  Catherine Foster – clarinet and trumpet
  Michael Ginsburg – trumpet
  Morgan Clark – accordion
  Belle Birchfield – baritone horn
  Paul Brown – electric bass
  Jerry Kisslinger – daouli
  Lefteris Bournias – clarinet
  

Ludo Mlado

• Ludo Mlado is a folklore dance ensemble based in Boston, MA. The group endeavors to preserve and spread awareness of the rich dance traditions of Bulgaria and the Balkan people by training dancers and showcasing performances at cultural events. Ludo Mlado performs at festivals, concerts, weddings, and wherever Bulgarian music and dance can bring its special touch to make an event memorable.

• For Balkan Music Night, the troupe will perform a set of Bulgarian dances, featuring authentic costumes, in the main hall.

  For more information, visit their website or contact the group by email.

Ahmet Lüleci

• 

  Ahmet is native of Turkey, an accomplished choreographer, dance teacher and performer as well as a researcher of Anatolian culture. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Boston based Collage Dance Ensemble.

  Ahmet will perform a short set of Turkish dances in the main Hall at Balkan Music Night!

Niva

• Niva is a Brooklyn-based, all-women ensemble dedicated to performing and preserving traditional Macedonian roots music. The group specializes in an authentic presentation of North Macedonian folk repertoire, featuring rich vocal harmonies and the signature sounds of local instruments. Their instrumentation foregrounds the kaval (shepherd’s flute), tambura (long-necked lute), tapan (bass drum), and powerful group singing.
• Band Members:
  Bridget Robbins – kaval
  Helen Marx - tupan and darabuka
  Abi Tenenbaum - tambura and vocals
  Kristina Vaskys – tambura and vocals
  Ella Fine - tambura & vocals

Orkestar Banitsa

Orkestar Banitsa plays dance music of the Balkans, especially in the traditions of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Greece. Based in Western Massachusetts, they have been playing together for about ten years, though only for the last four as Orkestar Banitsa. The name comes from the wonderful Bulgarian pastry.

Orkestar Banitsa features:
Becky Ashenden and Gawain Thomas, accordion and percussion
Addie Rose Holland, clarinet and vocals
Joe Blumenthal, bass
Barbara Blumenthal, Bulgarian tambura.

Recordings available on Bandcamp.

Pontic Firebird

• Pontic Firebird plays traditional Greek dance music from the Black Sea area of Turkey (Pontos). Pontic Firebird came to life in 2011 at the EEFC Balkan Music & Dance Workshops and has been performing for dancers throughout the U.S. ever since.
  
• Band Members:
  Beth Bahia Cohen – violin
  Jerry Kisslinger – daouli
  Adam Good - oud
  Paul Brown - upright bass
  

REVMA

• REVMA plays the living art of traditional Greek music (“Dimotika”), for listening and dancing audiences. Mesmerizing pentatonic and polyphonic Epirot mountain laments and celebrations, lyrical melodies and the “springing” sousta and ballos dances of the Aegean, Dodekanese, and Ionian islands, powerful odd-metered Macedonian and Thracian rhythms, and the delicate modal tones of urban Smyrnaika, are all shaped by a history drenched in struggle, war, migration, resilience, and philotimia, and charged with hellenic life-embracing passion and wit.
  
  REVMA has played for numerous international folk festivals, like the Flurry in Saratoga Springs, and has performed frequently at Balkan Music Night. The band appears regularly at Greek cultural events, concerts, and dances throughout the New England region, and beyond!
  
• Band Members:
  Sandy Theodorou – accordion, laouto, vocals
  Rohan Gregory – violin
  Fabio Pirozzolo – percussion, vocals
  with:
  Mal Barsamian - clarinet
  

Romaniacs

• Romaniacs are five musicians enthralled with the diverse styles of traditional Romanian music. Romania has a melting pot of musical styles from regional cultures, with Romani and Klezmer influences.
   
  Please visit our website for more information.
   
  Band Members:
  Melinda Fields - accordion
  Mel Fitzhugh - electric bass
  Ralph Iverson - violin
  Aubrey Jaffer - yangquin (similar to cimbal)
  Lucy Vandevegte - flute, piccolo, Romanian caval
  

Lubomir Smilenov

• Lubo Smilenov will play traditional dance music on the Bulgarian bagpipes (kaba gaida, djura gaida) and gadulka.
   
  Band Members:
  Lubomir Smilenov - kaba gaida, djura gaida, gadulka
  Matt Moran - percussion
  

members of the Yale Slavic Chorus

• Founded in 1969, the Yale Slavic Chorus was the first women’s organization at Yale College. Now they are an all-gender group singing SSA arrangements of traditional music from Eastern Europe, Georgia, and the Balkans.
   
  At this year’s Balkan Music Night, members of the Yale Slavic Chorus perform a special set of their favorite small group songs, including classics like Shto Mi E Milo as well as newer additions to the repertoire.
  
  Chorus members for this concert include Nora Brown, Abi Tenenbaum, and Thisbe Wu.
  

Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band

• The foremost presenters of traditional Balkan brass music in the US, Zlatne Uste's repertoire spans the most important stops in the traditional music of the Balkans. ZU has been a six-time invited guest at the Dragačevo Brass Festival in Guča, Serbia.
   
  Band Members:
      Belle Birchfield
  Morgan Clark
  Marian Eines
  Sarah Ferholt
  Catherine Foster
  Emily Geller
  Michael Ginsburg
  Don Godwin
  Emerson Hawley
  Melinda Hunt
  Jerry Kisslinger
  Seido Salifoski
  Matt Smith
  Daniel Stern