My wife and I spent Saturday, January 17, 2015 at the The 2015 Zlatne Uste Golden Festival
http://goldenfest.org/about 2,000 aging Balkan folkies with a dollop, 1,500+- Brooklyn hipsters.....
and a good time was had by all....
6pm – 2am! 4+ stages! 60+ bands!
Ballroom: Main Floor
Atrium: Main Floor adjacent to ballroom
Chopin Room: 1st Floor
Rainbow Room: 3rd Floor
Grand View Room: 4th Floor curated jam space
Start Venue Group Name Description Members
6:00 Atrium NY Bulgarian Women's Choir Yasna Voices Yasna Voices is a joyful choir with a passion for ensemble harmony and Bulgarian folk traditions, singing village style songs and choral arrangements. Diana Djibirova, Elyse Dubin, Jane Carver, Maria Bee, Melinda Hunt, Michelle Sui, Morana Mesci, Nedyalko Ketev, Petya Maglova, Shelley Thomas, Sina Heiss, Valentina Kvasova, Vlada Tomova
6:00 Ballroom Balkan Mind Meld Traditional dance music from the Southern Balkans Gawain Thomas, Lysander Jaffe, Zoe Christiansen
6:00 Chopin Čoček Nation Youth ensemble originating at the East Coast Balkan Music & Dance Workshops (
www.eefc.org), plays mixed Balkan repertoire. Superstars of the future! Sarah Ferholt, Emily Geller, Don Godwin, Dalia Kropf, Ella Fine, Becki Marcus, Aaron Kisslinger, Anna Goldberg, Felicia Goldberg, Peter Sieck, Arianna Harris, Zuvuya Talley, Trace Hybertson, Jesse Shearer, Sophie Kropf, Milutin, Nathan Wolman, Elizabeth Dargie, Ellen Cooper, Katy Tanzer, Lubomir, Marta Barthalomew, Stacey Sternberg, Robby Jenkins.
6:00 Rainbow The Fiddling Twins Two violins playing Swedish music. Catherine Foster, Leslie Foster Foley
6:20 Rainbow Turku High energy traditional Turkish folk music Behyar Behipour, Carla Monnich, Farzad Farhangi, Kazuki Kozuru-Salifoska, Ted Monnich
6:25 Atrium The Village Voices Exceptional old style songs of the Balkans: magnificent two-voiced songs of Pirin and istria, and melismatic ballads of N. Bulgaria, Dobrudzha, Thrace Carol Freeman, Emil, Jen Chapin, Ruth Orlowicz, Vasil Vasilev
6:30 Ballroom 101 Kaba Gaidi New York 101 KABA GAIDI NY is a project of the non profit cultural organization YBVNY. It's goal is to teach the art of playing the Bulgarian KABA GAIDA. Kalin Kresnitchki, Nedyalko Ketev, Yana Kalinkova, Zora Boyadhzieva, Petya Maglova,Evgeni Ninov, Kalina Kirkbride,Iva Kalinkova, Jenifer Rahneva, Sofia Georgieva , Konstatin Yanchev , Lora Stanisheva, Ali Jordanova, Matei Kirkbride, Damyan Yanchev, Yana Stanisheva, Alex Dotov, Dinyo Iantchev, Ivailo Kuchev, Kalin Kresnitchki, Kamen Kresnitchki, Nedyalko Ketev, Ralph Knag, Richmond Johnston, Todor Todorov, Tsvetomila Valcheva, Valentin Nikolov, Bonnie Silver, Chavdar Dobranov, Elyse Dubin, Kalin Kopachev, Michelle Weller, Sarah Tanzer
6:30 Chopin Powder Keg Powder Keg Premium Balkan Band is an inevitable confluence of traditional folk styles from the central Balkans with undercurrents of New Orleans jazz Ashley Blum, Ben Fox, Benjamin Miller, Brett Brothwell, Kirk Duplantis, Matthew Schreiber, Pete Olynciw, Steven Pilcher
6:45 Ballroom Michael Winograd & the Honorable Mentshn Klezmer dance set with a big orchestra joined by some of NYC's finest klezmer musicians and dancers. Aaron Alexander,Adam Moss,Ariane Morin,Avi Fox-Rosen,Avia Moore,Daniel Blacksber,Deborah Strauss,Don Godwin, Frank London, Jake Shulman-Ment, Keryn Kleiman, Lauren Brody, Ljova Zhurbin, Michael Winograd, Patrick Farrell, Pete Rushefksy, Zisl Slepovitch
6:45 Grand View Zlatne Uste, Friends and Family Everyone who has ever played with ZU or in the EEFC Balkan Camp Brass Band Class. Jam leader: Michael Ginsburg
6:50 Rainbow Niva Niva is a 4 woman band that plays traditional Macedonian izvorna, with a special focus on multivoiced singing. Bridget Robbins, Corinna Snyder, Emily Geller, Kristina Vaskys
6:55 Atrium Mavrothi Kontanis A blend of traditional music from Greece and Turkey and original songs inspired by the sounds of the Aegean Sea. Mavrothi Kontanis
7:00 Chopin MWE MWE plays loud and intense dance party music from Turkey and the Balkans combining the classic zurna and davul pairing with clarinets and saxophone. Calvin Lai, Greg Jenkins, Morgan Nilsen, Sean Tergis, Teddy Raven
7:15 Ballroom Ralph and Friends Bulgarian and Macedonian dance music Dean Brown, Henry Goldberg, Ralph Iverson
7:15 Grand View Young Bulgarian Voices NY children choir
7:20 Rainbow Catherine Foster Brass Band Balkan brass Catherine Foster, Emily Geller, Eva Boodman, Hannah Temple, Helen Marx, Jackie Coleman, Lily Paulina, Marian Eines
7:25 Atrium Nightingale Trio The Nightingale Trio is a women's vocal ensemble that helps promote and preserve the uncommon sounds and rhythms of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Nila Bala, Rachel LaViola, Sarah Larsson
7:25 Ballroom Ork. Balkan Express AKA Ork. Zlatni Makedoncinja. Modernized Traditional Macedonian, Albanian, Serbian, and Romani music in a modern and exciting way. Aleksandar Dimitrovski, Onur Edipov, Orhan Edipov
7:30 Chopin Orkestar BAM! Orkestar BAM is Yale's premier Balkan band, playing music from Albania, Serbia, Turkey, and beyond. Adam Waite, Anna Rose Gable, Avi Allison, Ben Kline, Beth Tellman, Carson Evans, Eric Boodman, Justine Cefalu, Maclovia Quintana, Maya Averbuch
7:30 Grand View Bi-annual Balkan Buddtime 15 musicians of Brooklyn and Ann Arbor unite
7:40 Rainbow Stella Haskil Tribute Ensemble Magnificent 1940's Greek Rebetika songs of legendary songstress Stella Haskil (aunt to our own Avram Pengas.) Avram Pengas, Beth Bahia Cohen, Carol Freeman, Christina Mitrakos, Eleni Zaharopoulos, Ellen Knopf, Gladys Comeau, Laura Pannaman, Lauren Brody, Nick Mandoukas, Ramona Kohrs, Seido Salifoski
7:55 Atrium Sherita An acoustic quartet playing original music born out of the sounds of Macedonia, Turkey, Greece, Albania and the Middle East. Adam Good, Greg Squared, Renee Bergan, Rima Fand
7:55 Ballroom Veveritse Brass Band Macedonian style brass band. Don Godwin, Emily Geller, Eva Boodman, J.R. Hankins, Lily Paulina, Luke Schneiders, Matt Moran, Patrick Farrell, Quince Marcum, Sarah Ferholt, Nick Mauro
8:00 Chopin Harris Brothers Balkan Band Heavily influenced by Balkan Roma bands, our lean, mobile style recreates the authentic, intimate experience of dancing face-to-face with musicians Ben Thomas, Brian Slattery, Drew Harris, Helen Marx, Melinda Fields, Tamberlaine Harris
8:00 Grand View Dance Songs Sing-along Dance related songs such as Pjevaj mi pjevaj, sokole and Shano dusho Open Jam led by John Parrrish: Dance simple dances to the music of your own singing, lyrics provided
8:05 Rainbow Lauren Brody's Accordion Bytes Bulgarian, Serbian, Romanian, Macedonian folk music for listening and dancing Alan Zemel, Jerry Kisslinger, Lauren Brody, Morgan Clark, Paul Brown
8:20 Atrium Zulal Zulal a cappella trio weaves Armenian folk melodies in intricate arrangements, true to the rural roots but with a sophisticated lyricism and energy. Anaí¿s Tekerian, Teni Apelian, Yeraz Markarian
8:30 Ballroom Sergiu Popa & Balkan Camp Orkestra Gypsy-Balkano-Middle East muzika, and wedding music from Eastern Europe. Music of Eastern Europe in gypsy style, travelling through the Balkans, Turkey and touching on Arabic or Arabesque. Bill Cope, Eva Salina Primack, Seido Salifoski, Sergiu Popa
8:30 Chopin Balkan Fields Bulgarian and pan-Balkan. Fresh, joyful dance tunes featuring accordion and violin/gadulka, plus exciting vocals by Melinda Hunt. Dean Brown, Henry Goldberg, Melika Fitzhugh, Melinda Fields, Melinda Hunt, Ralph Iverson
8:30 Grand View Fenyes Band and invited guests Couple dances of Hungary and Transylvania, perhaps line dances
8:30 Rainbow Litvakus Litvakus brings back to vibrant life and recreates two endangered East European musical traditions, Litvak Jewish and Belarusian. Craig Judelman, Joshua Camp, Sam Weisenberg, Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, Zisl Slepovitch
8:45 Atrium Zingeray! Unaccompanied solo traditional Yiddish song. Each singer in the group will sing one or two songs from his/her repertory. Carol Freeman, Esther Gottesman, Ethel Raim, Itzik Gottesman, Janet Leuchter, Josh Waletzky, Michael Alpert, Paula Teitelbaum, Sarah-Mina Gordon
9:00 Ballroom Nikolay Kolev Traditional Bulgarian Folk Music on Gadulka. Nikolay Kolev
9:00 Chopin Zurli Drustvo Authentic Macedonian Zurla Team playing compelling version of folkdance melodies. Paired horns producing big harmonics to a driving tupan beat. Drew Harris, Jerry Kisslinger, Tamberlaine Harris
9:00 Grand View Greek Epirotika Vocals and laouto - Vasilis Kostas, violin- Beth Bahia Cohen, and percussion - TBA
9:00 Rainbow Cazma Tambu Turbo Folk. Chris Lambrix, Raczar Lopatic, Rob Lambrix, Steve Grasa
9:15 Atrium Yale Women's Slavic Chorus Founded in 1969, we are a group primarily of undergraduate students - we sing the beautiful songs of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Amanda Crego-Emley, Athena Wheaton, Ayanna Woods, Camille Labarre, Charlotte Finegold, Chihiro Isozaki, Jana Lohrova, Justine Cefalu, Maria Maier, Olivia Gunton, Ruby Bilger, Sonya Levitova
9:30 Ballroom Romashka Roma music from Russia, Romania & more, with singer Inna Barmash and fiery musicians on violin, viola, accordion, trumpet, clarinet/sax, tuba, drums. Ben Holmes, Chris Stromquist, Inna Barmash, Jake Shulman-Ment, Jeff Perlman, Ljova Zhurbin, Patrick Farrell, Ron Caswell
9:30 Chopin Amir Vahab Ensemble Sufi Songs of Love; Persian & Turkish Folk Music featuring the Ney: mystical flute Saz: long neck lute Daf: large frame drum associated with Sufis Amir Vahab, Gail, Yvette
9:30 Grand View Gaida Electrique Electric/ Trad Bulgarian dance Matt Darriau, Yosie Fruchter, Avi Fox-Rose, Chris Stromquist, Michelle Alany, Katie Down, Seido Salifoski
9:30 Rainbow Souren Baronian and Friends Near Eastern Lee Baronian, Paul Brown, Polly Tapia Ferber, Robert Boghosian, Souren Baronian
9:40 Atrium Supruli Traditional Georgian polyphonic singing. Vaiva Aglinskas, Andrew Broaddus, Suzanne Clare, Brian Dolphin, Dennis Demakos, Elena Belan, Ezra Fischer, Ezra Halleck, Faten Kanaan, Sarah Kessler, Jay Laubscher, Jordan Lewis, Carl Linich, Jay Longan, Julia Read, Kira Topik, Marina Kaganova, Michelle Sui, Robert Scott
_10:00 Chopin Raya Brass Band Soul shaking, border defying dance music informed by their love for the fierce and seductive music of the Balkans as it is by New Orleans brass bands, punk rock and out jazz. Ben Syversen, Don Godwin, Greg Squared, Matthew "Max" Fass, Nezih Antakli, Rich Stein
_10:00 Grand View Open Jam with Gaida Electrique Bring in your idea or melody and we may make it work! Emphasis on improvising within a Balkan modal and rhythmic spirit = fun! Open Jam led by Matt Darriau Paradox=at=sprynet.com
_10:05 Ballroom West Philadelphia Orchestra Balkan-inspired 14-piece brass band ensemble. Traditional and original compositions; creating dance parties since 2006. Adam Hershberger, Chad Brown, Dan Nosheny, David Fishkin, Elliott Levin, Francois Zayas, Gregg Mervine, Hayley Varhol, Jack Ohly, Jim Parker, Koofreh Umeron, Larry Goldfinger, Larry Toft, Mike D'Avino, Patrick Hughes, Petia Zamfirova, Steve Duffy
_10:10 Atrium Black Sea Hotel Black Sea Hotel creates a haunting and spellbinding harmonic blend with their intricate, original arrangements of traditional Balkan folk songs. Sarah Small, Shelley Thomas, Willa Roberts
_10:10 Rainbow Odglasi Odglasi (Echoes) is a recently formed NYC band that plays traditional Macedonian music, from Izvorna to Chalgija to Starogradska.. Adam Good, Bridget Robbins, Corinna Snyder, Jerry Kisslinger, Marjorie Seldon, Vedran Boskovski
_10:30 Chopin Tipsy Oxcart Tipsy Oxcart plays electric, sweaty, bumpinÍ Balkan music that infuses the sounds of South-Eastern Europe with elements of funk, rock and jazz. Ayal Tsubery, Connell Thompson, Dani Danor, Jeremy Bloom, Maya Shanker
_10:30 Grand View Kaba gajda jam/Rhodope sing-along Large group singing and dancing to sounds of massed Bulgarian Rhodope kaba gaidas (large bagpipes! ) Song words provided. Open jam led by Henry Goldberg henrybgoldberg=at=gmail.com
_10:40 Atrium Sanda Weigl & Band Accompanied by her new band Sanda takes the Romanian songs she grew up hearing on the streets of Bucharest to a truly revolutionary level. Branco Brinarsky, Eleonore Weill, Jake Shulman-Ment, Peter Stan, Sanda Weigl
_10:40 Ballroom Avram Pengas World music Avram Pengas , Elysa Sunshine, Nick Mandoukos, Seido Salifoski
_10:40 Rainbow Loretta Kelley Norwegian hardingfele music for dancing Loretta Kelley
_11:00 Chopin Gogofski Real Balkan. Heavily Macedonian. Lesno, chocek, devetorka, beranche, pajdushko, pravo. In front of you on the floor. Dave Golber, Henry Goldberg, Kasia Sokalla, Tom Pixton
_11:00 Grand View Open Jam: Traditional East European klezmer & Yiddish song as a jumping off point All instruments. players should have some familiarity with Yiddish music repertoire, or the desire to integrate their music into a klezmer context. Open jam led by Frank London frank=at=klezmatics.com
_11:10 Atrium Slaveya Women's vocal ensemble sings folk songs of Eastern Europe and Caucasus Georgia. Their CD, On the Village Square is available on cdbaby. Agnieszka Christian, Anne Harrison, Beth Bienvenue, Betsy Platt, Carol Baker, Helen Fedor, Jennifer Lee, Karen Chittenden, Mary Farrah, Miriam Rollins, Thea Austin, Tzvety Weiner
_11:10 Rainbow Blato Zlato Blato Zlato ("Swamp Gold") is a collaboration between New Orleans bands G String Orchestra & Pyeya, combining 3-part harmony + energetic instrumentals Annalisa Kelly, Ian Cook, Julia Michaels, Pete Olynciw, Ruby Ross, Sarah Jacques
_11:15 Ballroom Zlatne Uste Festival hosts Zlatne Uste Brass Band Belle Birchfield, Catherine Foster, Don Godwin, Emerson Hawley, Emily Geller, Gary Zema, Jerry Kisslinger, Marian Eines, Matt Smith, Melinda Hunt, Michael Ginsburg, Morgan Clark, Sarah Ferholt, Seido Salifoski, Tamberlaine Harris
_11:30 Chopin Black Masala Brassy DC based multicultural outfit Black Masala is part of the new generation of brass bands and puts on an amazing, high-energy live show! Duff Davis, Kirsten Warfield, Kristen Long, Matt Hotez, Mike Ounallah, Monty Montgomery, Steven Cunnigham, Tomas Drgon, Yannick LePage
_11:30 Grand View Open Jam: Dance music of Romania and Transylvania Predominately fiddles & other bowed stringed instruments with others welcome. Link to scores/recording on request Open jam led by Loretta Kelley LorettaKelley=at=fanitull.org
_11:35 Atrium Svitanya Eastern European Balkan Women's Vocal Ensemble. Anne Ehrhart, Ashley Altar, Chrissy Steele, Kimberly DiMattia, Leela Ehrhart, Petia Zamfirova, Susan Anderson
_11:35 Rainbow Dolunay Dolunay plays the songs of the people of Turkish descent who lived across Rumeli, the southern Balkan region of the Ottoman Empire. Adam Good, Eylem Basaldi, Jenny Luna, Polly Tapia Ferber
_12:00 Ballroom Sazet Band High-octane dance music from the Balkans... famous pieces that are played in Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, fused with a New York style of arrangements by Romeo Kurtali. Romeo Kurtali, Kurt Kurtali, Amdi, Ernie, Lanti, Ferdi
_12:00 Chopin
_12:00 Grand View Macedonian izvoren jam All izvoren instrument players welcome. Scores and MP3s at:
http://balkantunes.org/music/izvoren Open jam led by Bill Cope
_12:05 Rainbow Fenyes Banda Hungarian and Transylvanian folkdance music Claire Bright, Gyorgy Kalan, Janos Perge, Katalin Harsaczki, Michelle Solyom, Raul Rothblatt, Zoltan Solyom
_12:20 Chopin Ornamatik Ornamatik fuses their own Motown Michigan soul and backbeat funk tradition with old world magic of Balkan music and dance traditions. Ben Rolston, Bethanni Grecynski, Darrin Greenawalt, Derek Worthington, Drew Schmieding, Eric Schweizer
_12:30 Ballroom Slavic Soul Party! Balkan Funk Brass Band Chris Stromquist, John Carlson, Kenny Warren, Matt Moran, Matt Musselman, Peter Hess, Peter Stan, Ron Caswell, Tim Vaughn
_12:30 Grand View Arabic Maqam call-and-response jam/class Learn some Arabic Maqam scales by singing or playing along! Open to all vocalists & instrumentalists.
www.maqamlessons.com Open jam/class led by Sami Shumays abushumays=at=hotmail.com
_12:30 Rainbow Scott Wilson & Efendi Turkish, Greek, Armenian Folk dance/belly dance music Alexis Simone, Aysha, Bob Godfried, Carmine Guida, Casey Bond, Jim Nordstrom, Pat Miller, Scott Wilson
_12:50 Chopin Ralph and Friends Bulgarian and Macedonian dance music Dean Brown, Henry Goldberg, Ralph Iverson
__1:00 Ballroom Pontic Firebird We play Western Pontic (Black Sea) Greek dance music Adam Good, Beth Bahia Cohen, Jerry Kisslinger, Paul Brown
__1:00 Chopin Wind of Anatolia Turkish folk and contemporary music. Berra Beyoglu, Esat Seyho, Eugene DiGranimo, Evrim Cicek, Fatih Bayram, Hayal Hanim, Ian Kenselaar, Ismail siglam, Jeff Heller, Rami ElAasser
__1:00 Grand View Balkan/Romanian Accordion jam with Sergiu Popa Play along by ear or just listen
__1:00 Rainbow BSL Trio Music of the Balkans. Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian folk and original compositions with jazz influence. Brad Shepik, lanti muncin, Seido Salifoski
__1:30 Ballroom What Cheer? Brigade The What Cheer? Brigade is a 20 piece punk brass band from Providence. Our sound is an aggressive mix of Bollywood, The Balkans, Klezmer, and Samba. Brian St. Pierre, Jori Ketten, Norlan Olivo, CJ Jimenez, William Schaff, Daniel Schleifer, Gregory Burbank, Joey DeFrancesco, Michael Jeffries, Tal Gur, Johanna Walczak, Chris Erway, Hannah Zoll, Nathan Bergmann-Dean, Nathan Wolman, Evan Desautels, Jesse Teixeira, Larry Mauk, Mitchell Barys, Jack MacAuliffe, Sarah Thomas, Nick Horton, Katie Zmed
__1:30 Chopin Choban Elektrik Psychedelic trad. Balkan fusion Dave Johnsen, Eva Salina Primack, Jesse Kotansky, Jordan Shapiro, Phil Kester
