Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal presents
Sarma Brass Band (10 pm)
Arcush (8 pm)
Saturday, April 15
Saturday, April 15, Show starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7 pm.
Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted. Online tickets now available: $16 + fee.
The Starry Plough Pub
3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703
All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
Food, beer and wine available from the bar.
Tano Brock’s newest project is the west coast version of Sarma Brass Band.
Tano Brock – Saxophone
Benji Rifati – Trumpet
Sean Tergis – Percussion
Marco Peris – Percussion
Peter Bonos – Euphonium
Evan Stuart – Sousaphone
Aya Safiya – Voice
Tano Brock is a San Francisco-born producer, songwriter, and mix engineer based in Los Angeles. CA. He grew up surrounded by music, and began playing percussion at a young age. Throughout his childhood he added more instruments to his arsenal, including piano, guitar, clarinet, and saxophone. In his teen years, he discovered the world of recording and production, which quickly became an obsessive passion.
After graduating from Berklee College of music in 2019, Tano moved to New York City, where he worked for a year before relocating to Los Angeles.
Although he focuses on music production & engineering, Tano is a versatile artist, releasing his own original music, composing for synch licensing, and performing live with numerous projects including La Doña, Aya Safiya, and Sarma Brass Band
Opening the show will be Arcush, a string band led by Marco Ghezzo and Aya Safiya.
Arcush (8 pm)
Marco Ghezzo – Violin
Aya Safiya – Voice, Violin
Leo Peringer – Cello
Ivan Velev – Percussion
Aya Safiya is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and violinist who specializes in interpreting traditional songs from the Mediterranean, the Rromani diaspora, and island cultures. With her hauntingly beautiful and emotional voice, she captivates her listener and puts them in a spell.
Aya fell in love with music the moment her father handed her a violin at age 6, and went on to study traditional Greek island violin intensively for over 20 years. However, she didn’t limit herself to violin—she soon discovered singing and began to cultivate her voice. With guidance from master vocalists such as Eva Salina, Katerina Papadhopoulou, Kina Mendez, Merita Halili and many others, Aya has discovered her own voice within traditional music.
Bay Area-born and currently based in Berkeley, Aya has traveled to the Balkans, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Okinawa, and Cuba in search of not only music, but also a deeper understanding of the traditions from which the music comes. She performs with numerous groups including Agapi Mou, Romantique, Sarma Brass Band, Taraf de Locos, The Aya & Tano Collective, and developed her solo set in collaboration with musicians from the vibrant international music scene in Boston before relocating to California.
Marco (he, him, his) comes from a small town in Italy at the foot of the Alps between Italy and France, where traditional Occitan music is preserved, whose tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. He began playing the violin at dance parties in the mountains at a very young age. A little older, he moved to Turin to study Anthropology and on the way to university he met a group of virtuoso Roma musicians from Romania. This intense, refined and explosive music has forever marked his musical life. For years, Marco has lived a few months a year in the Romani neighborhood of Csavas in Transylvania, a place known for its musicians. In 2012, a long tour of the United States and Mexico made him move to the New Continent, where he played with groups from the Balkans and on the world stage. He currently plays with Arcush, Șpagă, Metanastys, Orchestra Euphonos, Kel-mo! and Todos Santos, spreading the spirit of the Roma music that he loves, through his energetic and profound interpretation. He is currently working on his first solo album titled Palé.
Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal 