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And Another Beautiful Voice! April, 2008 Out of the blue we were contacted by Sarah Walsh, who, though classically trained, grew up around Balkan singing, as her parents were in the Balkan music groups, Aman, and Nevenka. It's easy to tell that Sarah has Balkan music in her ear and heart! Welcome Sarah — we're delighted you found us!
Welcome to Our New Singers! January, 2008 Through our recent Balkan Revels experience, we were delighted to get to know many people in the Boston area who are as in love with Bulgarian music as we are. And we are even more delighted and happy to have three of them join Divi Zheni! Here's a warm welcome to Kim Keown, Jane Culbert, and Beate Gottschlich — we love having your beautiful voices and selves around :).
A Festive Christmas Revels Indeed December, 2007 This holiday season our artistic director, Tatiana Sarbinska, and two Divi Zheni singers, Freedom Baird and Aine Farrell, participated in Cambridge's annual Christmas Revels. Every year, Revels explores traditional culture from a different region of the globe, and this year it was full-on Balkan! Tatiana provided consulting on gorgeous seasonal repertoire, and coached the huge chorus of adults and children, and the featured world-music artists Libana, to make a powerful Balkan sound. Bringing the beautiful and rich music, dance, costumes and traditions to 18-shows worth of enthusiastic audiences in Cambridge's lovely Sanders Theater was a lot of work, but a thrill! Click here for 2007 Christmas Revels photos.
Back from Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Chepelare... October, 2007 In early October eight members of Divi Zheni traveled to Bulgaria, and joined our sister ensemble, Orfeia, to support our artistic director, Tatiana Sarbinska in her retrospective concert series, Bridge Beyond Borders. Tatiana was phenomenal and the concerts and touring were thrilling. Click here for Priscilla's and Paula's write-ups, including some gorgeous photos.
Members of Divi Zheni to perform in Bulgaria - August, 2007 Some members of Divi Zheni will join with Washington DC's Balkan vocal group, Orfeia, as well as the renowned Pirin Ensemble, in a retrospective concert honoring Tatiana Sarbinska, Divi Zheni and Orfeia's artistic director. The concerts will take place in October, at the Symphony Hall in Sofia and the State Opera House in Blagoevgrad. Very exciting! Check Tatiana's website for details.
Tatiana's New CDs are available in the USA! - April, 2007 We are proud, tickled and thrilled to announce that our artistic director, Tatiana Sarbinska, has two new CDs out, and that their shipment has finally arrived stateside! The first disc is Katerino Mome, a newly issued compilation of Tatiana's legendary recordings, produced by the Bulgarian National Radio. The second disc, Makedonsko Devojche, features brand new recordings by Tatiana of traditional and contemporary folk songs. It includes Oj Dimitre Sine Mitre, written by Tatiana, and now a big hit in Bulgaria!
We had a wonderful time on March 25th celebrating the CDs' release with Tatiana. She performed for a standing-room-only house in Newton's Trinity Episcopal Church. The crowd was full of Bulgarians, Americans, and even Ambassador Nikolay Milkov, Bulgarian Consul General to the USA! Divi Zheni performed, and so did Zornitsa, and the fabulous Balkan dance troup Ludo Mlado. The evening wrapped up with chairs cleared away, and everyone dancing — that's what I call a party!
Bulgarian folk songs of love - March, 2007 So many English-speakers who love Bulgarian vocal folk music are drawn to the harmonies, but don't always know the songs' translations. Many that we sing are love songs, featuring dark-eyed brides, crazy boys, red wine, and boisterous wedding parties. For a window onto some of the language and poetry of the lyrics, here are translations of two of our favorites, Ludo Mlado, and Pitat me Mamo.
Welcome to our new members! - November, 2006 Our roster has grown this fall, and we are delighted to welcome our new members, Cathie O'Neill, Priscilla Howell, Aine Farrell, Leilani Roser and Anna Stevens. Thanks new Divis, for bringing your good energy and strong voices to the chorus!
Visit from Elena Koleva - October 7, 2006 Kate invited a newly-made friend to sit in on rehearsal the other night. It was Elena Koleva, a Bulgarian woman who lives in the Boston area, and performs American and European jazz music. The evening turned into an intercultural musical exchange, and Elena sang a traditional Bulgarian song for us which blew us away. She has a rich, resonant, expressive voice that we hope to hear more of!
Our first gig of the season - September 5, 2006 After two weddings of Divi Zheni members and a summer of travels and various adventures, including Tatiana's new recordings in Bulgaria, we're back rehearsing at The Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Allston. Our first performance this fall will be in late October, at MIT's International Folk Club. It'll be a nice low-key evening of dance songs and dancing. Check the calendar for details.
DiviZheni.net is live! - September 1, 2006 Welcome to Divi Zheni's new website. Here you'll find performance announcements, contact info, Divi Zheni history, photos, chorus member bios, and more. We welcome your feedback - drop us a line! freedom@plaidbathtub.net |
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