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In This Issue
From Planina:
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THIS Friday, September 12 – BIFD’s First of Fall Party, Live Music with Planina!
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Saturday, October 11 – Swallow Hill Presents Planina: A Harvest Gathering
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Requesting a Favor
From Our Friends:
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Thursday, September 18 – Festo! Festo! with We Could Be Gyros
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Friday, October 3 – Bulgarika – on tour! at BIFD
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Sunday, October 26 – Barbelfish at Willow Farm
From Planina and Lots of Our Friends:
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Saturday, November 22 – Boulder Balkan Bash
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THIS Friday, Sept 12 – BIFD’s First of Fall Party, Live Music with Planina!
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Friday, September 12
7:30-11:00 pm
Sodal Hall @ The Avalon
6185 Arapahoe Rd, Boulder, CO 80303 ( map)
$5 members / $10 non-members
Potluck – bring a snack to share!
Tickets at the door; info, click here
Boulder International Folk Dancers (BIFD) revives its erstwhile tradition of the First of Fall party. This event will feature live music by Planina, with a performance by the local dance group Hora Romaneasca during the break.
From a cappella favorites like the Romanian Joc de Leagane, which Planina informally calls “Cradle Dance,” to instrumental numbers like the boot-stomping Lithuanian Polka with Horns, to Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Macedonian and Rom songs, it’s a pleasure
to dance (or just listen) to live Balkan music made by many voices singing together. Some of Planina’s singers are instrumentalists as well, plus we will be joined by guest clarinetist / kaval player
Amy Self. We’re excited about this repertoire and look forward to playing for your dancing and listening pleasure!
Photo: Folk dancers groove to Planina’s rendition of an a cappella song at the 2019 Boulder Balkan Bash. Photo: Steward Hartman
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Sat, Oct 11 – Swallow Hill Presents Planina: A Harvest Gathering
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Saturday, October 11
8:00 pm
Swallow Hill Music
71 E Yale Ave, Denver, CO 80210
Tickets $25
In some Slavic traditions, Dimitrovden (St. Demetrius’ Day) on October 26 marks the end of the summer half of the year and the beginning of the winter half — a season of harvest and intriguing traditions such as expulsion of mice and protection against wolves.
People turn away from outside work and gather together for inside festivities.
We will celebrate the season with a collection of tunes that show off the vibrant diversity of Eastern European music — from simple village-style songs with folk instruments to full-bodied choral arrangements in the style of
Le Mystère de Voix Bulgares – the music that captivated the world’s attention in the 1980s.
Swallow Hill’s concert hall has a good sound system and excellent acoustics. It’s a wonderful setting for listening to this music. Please plan to join us and tell your friends about it, too.
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 Although
Planina’s singers represent almost an even split between folks living in Boulder County or points north, and Denver or points south or east, we typically perform much more often in Boulder than in Denver.
This fall we’re doing our best to increase our visibility a little farther south along the Front Range, and you can help!
As you read this newsletter, can you think of just one friend in Denver, Centennial, Littleton, Aurora, or the like, who would enjoy this music? If so, please forward this issue to them along with a note encouraging them to attend our Swallow Hill concert on
October 11. Of course, we hope you’ll come, too.
Help us warm up the south part of the Metro Area for Balkan music. Thank you! |
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Thursday, Sept 18: Festo! Festo! with We Could Be Gyros
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 Thursday,
September 18
7-9:30 pm
Velvet Elk Lounge
2037 13th Street, Boulder, 80302
Tickets $10-$20
Facebook
Event
"We Could Be Gyros” is the name of James Hoskins’ new Boulder bouzouki-based band that will feature both traditional Greek tunes and Hoskins originals. This will be the band’s first-ever performance.
The band consists of James Hoskins, bouzouki, vocals; Julie Lancaster, accordion, vocals;
Jesse Manno, bouzouki, electric bass, vocals; Glenda Luck, guitar, vocals; and
Ken Matarazzo, drums.
The evening will also feature a set by the fabulous Gora Gora Orkestar and a community jam with the
Boulder Klezmer Jam led by Yonatan Malin and Judy Megibow.
7:10-7:40 Boulder Klezmer Jam
7:50-8:35 We Could Be Gyros
8:45-9:15 Gora Gora Orkestar |
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Friday, Oct 3 – Bulgarika (on tour!) at BIFD
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 Friday,
October 3
Probably 7:30-11:00 p.m.
Sodal Hall, The Avalon
6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder
Check
the BIFD website for ticket prices and exact times
JUST ANNOUNCED! Boulder International Folk Dancers presents Bulgarika, a folk band comprised of Bulgarian master musicians. They will be in Colorado as part of their U.S. tour.
Bulgarika is a unique folklore band playing traditional music from all the regions of Bulgaria. Donka Koleva (vocals) and
Nikolay Kolev (gudulka), who now live in the U.S., are graduates of the National School of Folk Arts in Shiroka Luka, Bulgaria, and are both recognized as world-class masters of their arts. They have taught and performed widely across the U.S. and are
beloved teachers in our Colorado Balkan music community. Donka and Nikolay are joined on this tour by Bulgaria-based
Stoyan Kostov on tambura and Anton Shekerjiev on tapan and kaba gajda. |
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Sunday, Oct 26 – Barbelfish in Concert, Willow Farm
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 Sunday,
October 26
3:00 pm
Willow Farm, indoor matinee show
11898 N 75th St
Longmont, CO 80503 (in the town of Hygiene)
$25 in advance, $20 students and seniors
Eventbrite ticket site coming soon
Barbelfish Balkan Band plays soul-stirring music for dancing and listening from the villages and cities of Eastern Europe and beyond, especially from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Roma and Jewish traditions. Balkan music offers some of the most exquisite
melodies, soaring harmonies and driving rhythms on the planet, and Barbelfish expertly delivers them.
James Hoskins (gudulka, cello, zurna, vocals), Julie Lancaster (accordion, tambura, vocals), Jesse Manno (percussion, vocals),
Steve Mullins (tambura, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin), Amy Self (clarinet, kaval, mandolin, vocals), Loren Uecker (vocals).
Barbelfish has played outside summer concerts in the past at Willow Farm, but for this late fall concert they will be in the Zendo hall — an intimate and warm space for listening. There will probably be some room at the back of the hall for those who would
like to dance. |
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FROM PLANINA & LOTS OF OUR FRIENDS
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Sat, Nov 22 – Boulder Balkan Bash
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Saturday, November 22
4:30-11 (doors open at 4:30 – music starts at 5)
The Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe, Boulder, CO 80303
$30 in Advance - Discounts for students and children
Lots of volunteer opportunities!
Tickets
Ticket sales are now open!
 The
Boulder Balkan Bash is an epic, all-evening event at the Avalon Ballroom that combines live dance music from some of your favorite local bands specializing in Balkan music with wonderful dancing, food, and a fabulous feeling of community.
Appearing at the Bash this year for the first time is the band
MishMish!
You will also see Planina,
Barbelfish,
Sherefe,
Gora
Gora Orkestar, and a performance by the local dance group
Gaitani!
In Eastern Europe, live music and dancing are always accompanied by food . . . and with six hours of dancing, we will need refueling! So roll up your sleeves, make a great dish to contribute to the potluck and come celebrate! All guests are kindly asked to
bring a dish to share. Don’t know what to bring or don’t like to cook? Contact Mary Ann at
maesau...@comcast.net for ideas.
Wine will be available as a premium for a donation to Planina, the 501(c)(3) organization producing the event.
November 22 is the Saturday before Thanksgiving, so if you are booking holiday travel, please plan around this date. Also, the event takes a small army of volunteers to pull off, so if you know now you’d like to be part of making this event happen, please contact
Mary Ann Saussotte at maesau...@comcast.net.
Images from the 2023 Boulder Balkan Bash courtesy Steward Hartman
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