All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes. Food, beer and wine available from the bar.

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While playing together on and off for many years Manoli and Vaggeli have built a great chemistry. They each bring unique traits from their respective areas and together they have a wonderful representation of traditional Cretan music from all over the island.

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Ezgija (8 pm) is Santa Cruz’s newest balkan band, serving up our favorite dance tunes from the Balkans, Anatolia, and beyond! With Shireen Nabatian’s sweet vintage vocals and soaring violin, we explore themes of love, loss, and celebration—presenting forgotten gems from the archives alongside fresh material from her yearly travels in Türkiye. Hossein Shoiaee adds unexpected twists and textures that keep things electric and genre-bending on guitar. And Evan Stuart holds it all together on bass, with warmth and heart at the core of every tune. Whether it’s a smoky love ballad, a rowdy wedding song, or a mournful lament, EZGIJA brings the spirit of these traditions to dance floors around the Bay Area and beyond with joy, soul, and a lot of sass.

January 17, 8:30 pm: Dan Cantrell and Friends + Dodona
Saturday, February 7, 8 pm: Cretan Night + Ezgija
Friday, Feb. 20, 8 pm: Dugyu and Friends + Ilya Schneyveys and Friends (Bonos Birthday Bash)
Saturday, March 21, 8:30 pm: Istanbul Connection

All shows at The Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley

The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal at the Starry Plough presents
Dan Cantrell and Friends (10:30 pm)
Dodona (8:30 pm).
The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA

$20 general/$15 students. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10pm. Doors open at 7:30pm
Beer, wine and food available from the bar. Kitchen closes at 10pm.

Join Facebook Event

Dan Cantrell (accordion and voice) is now slotted to bring his new supergroup fresh off of their hot NYE performance at Ashkenaz for an epic headlining set with a dream team of powerhouse Balkan musicians including Lila Sklar (violin) Calvin Lai (clarinet), Greg Jenkins (sax), Jesse Hix (bass), Sean Tergis (drums), and more TBA.

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Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer known for his innovative and evocative film and theatre scoring approach, as well as his virtuosic playing abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw.  He holds a BFA degree from CalArts where he majored in Composition and Piano performance.  Dan is a self taught master of the accordion, excelling at Balkan, Romani, Eastern European, and Klezmer styles.   Dan has performed and recorded with Kugelplex, Inspector Gadje, Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, Beats Antique, Bono, Danny Elfman, members of the Klezmatics and Fishbone.  Dan’s broad ranging musical portfolio, including compositions for video games, cartoons, film, television, web broadcast, and self produced albums can be heard at www.bellowhead.com

Dodona: Drawing from the deep well of musical traditions from Albania and the Epirus region of Greece, Dodona moves between the mournful to the celebratory. The members of this new group have a specific goal, to bring out their love for the melodies of this small region. With a repertoire that goes from plaintive, to trance inducing, to driving, Dodona is one of the few groups in the Bay Area specifically focused on the Albanian and Epirus diaspora. So whether you love a good tsamiko, or the familiarity of a syrtos, or even if you just love to dance with wild abandon this unique band is sure to deliver. Dodona’s members are Calvin Lai on clarinet, vocalist Genevieve Daphne, violinist Ari Langer, Jenette Selin on accordion, Kent Kessinger on guitar and Sean Tergis on drums plus Greg Jenkins on clarinet and vocals (pending confirmation).

The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal at Starry Plough Pub presents
Filip Filipov with Rumen Sali Shopov
Palamidhi
Saturday, December 20, 8 pm til late
Tickets: $20 general/$15 students; Doors open at 7 pm; All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm. Beer and wine available at the bar. Kitchen closes at 10 pm.

To start out the show, we are pleased to introduce Filip Filipov, a virtuoso accordionist visiting from Bulgaria and performing in collaboration with local maestro percussionist Rumen Sali Shopov. At 10 pm, we will have a Greek folk dance set with Palamidi featuring Nick Maroussis, Greg Jenkins, Jenette Sellin on accordion and Michael Garibaldi. This group is coming together to celebrate the birthday of Jenette Sellin. As the midnight hour approaches, we will celebrate with a rockin’ Anatolian afterparty jam led by none other than Jarolim Gayri (guitarist and bouzouki wizard of Metanastys and Hadi Dede) with special guest Aharon Wheels Bolsta on drums and more friends sitting in.

Nick Maroussis is a musician based out of Seattle, Washington, where he grew up playing strings in various rock bands in the greater Seattle area. His involvement in the Greek community and lifelong participation in the dance program at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church ultimately steered his musical interest into the realm of Greek and Balkan folk music. In 2008, Nick joined Dromeno, a folk music ensemble led by Balkan music veterans Ruth Hunter and Christos Govetas.

Nick has dedicated himself to the musical traditions of Greece, focusing primarily on the laouto (Greek lute), bouzouki, and guitar. Nick has performed at a wide array of dance symposiums, concerts, workshops, and parties around the U.S., Canada, and Greece as a part of Seattle-based bands Dromeno, Palamidhi, and Pasatempo Rebetika.

Filip Filipov Bio

Filip Filipov was born in Varna, Bulgaria and has been a musician since he was a child.  At just 6, he was taken by his sister to the Children’s Orchestra at the Macedonian House in Varna.  There he began to quickly stand out as a tapan player competing with other young musicians and performed in his first concert that same year.  At the age of 11, he was invited by Maria Staneva, choreographer of the Bulgarche Ensemble, to join his first international tour. He performed all across Western and Eastern Europe over the next several years.  

During his military service, Filip played in the Army Ensemble in Sliven; first as a tapan player and later as an accordionist.  After his service, Filip joined the Varna Ensemble and also performed in many other wedding orchestras including Aksakovska Group, Orchestra Kabile, Orchestra Panorama and many more, playing accordion and keyboard.  He also formed his own wedding orchestra and performed throughout Bulgaria.  Filip also performed with various bands in many restaurants and clubs while performing Bulgarian, Serbian and Greek music. He has a CD of his work and often appears on television playing many of his compositions.  

While living in Denmark, Filip found like-minded musicians and joined the Orpheus Balkan Ensemble while continuing to promote Balkan music. He also had the honor of playing with the virtuoso Nedyalko Nedyalkov and his trio. Filip’s music workshops and performances have taken him to Germany, England, Scotland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic and Brazil.  Last year, he had the opportunity to perform across the US while accompanying Jaap Leegwater on his dance tour and this year he returns to the US again to teach, perform and play for various dance groups. Don’t miss this talented superstar!

Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal at the Starry Plough is excited to welcome back Lars and In Charge and the bacchanal debut of AVRA with Ari Langer and friends playing Greek folk music to instantly transform the dance floor the into a glendi within a bacchanal!

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Lars and In Charge
AVRA
Saturday, November 15, 8 pm
The Starry Plough Pub
3101 Shattuck St. Berkeley, CA

Tickets: $20 general/$15 students; Doors open at 7 pm; All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm. Beer and wine available at the bar. Kitchen closes at 10 pm.

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Lars and in Charge (10-Midnight) performs high-energy original and traditional music of Turkey, Greece and beyond. Lars Tergis and Greg Jenkins lead the charge on violin and clarinet with driving, gritty interpretations of classic party tunes and original compositions. Chris Reid adds a touch of ‘West’ with percussive chordal accompaniment on steel-string guitar. Joe Rosato Jr. holds it down on upright bass while Faisal Zedan keeps the beat popping on derbekki, riqq and davul. Joined on stage with bellydancer Nicole Maria, Lars and In Charge guarantees a big sound and an even bigger party!
instagram.com/larsandinchargeband
facebook.com/larsandinchargeband

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AVRA (8-10 pm) is a new project with familiar faces from the Bay Area Greek and Balkan music scene, performing traditional Greek music for dancers. Their repertoire comes from all corners of Greece, and beyond: the valley region of Thrace, the mountainous region of Epirus, the windy islands, the plains and rivers of Thessaly, the shores of the Black Sea and the Aegean. AVRA features, Ari Langer (violin), Gregory Masaki Jenkins (clarinet, vocals, percussion), Jenette Sellin (accordion and santouri) and Michael Garibaldi (percussion, vocals, laouto). 

Saturday, October 11 at the Starry Plough Pub

Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal presents Orkestar Seyir and Balkan Ensemble Meraklii.

Show starts at 8 pm. Doors open at 7 pm.

Tickets: $20 at the door/$15 for students. Cash, card or Venmo accepted at the door.
All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
Food, beer and wine available from the bar.

Orkestar Seyir brings Tallava music from the Balkans to the USA, sometimes even mixing traditional Tallava dance rhythms with American EDM. Tallava is modern Balkan Roma music, a genre of music rarely played in the United States.   The band is led by co-leaders Dvoraka La on the electronic violin/vocals and Jeff Giaquinto on the electric guitar.  They are dedicated students of David Mamudov, a Macedonian Roma Tallava violinist and guitarist.

Bay Area-based Balkan Ensemble Merkalii & Rumen Sali Shopov pick you up and spin you around with their energetic Balkan and Romani dance tunes.

Rumen “Sali” Shopov is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and director of Balkan Ensemble Merkalii. Raised in the vibrant Turkish/Muslim/Romani neighborhood of Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria, he was immersed in Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Turkish, Serbian, and Romani music, and also served as concertmaster of the Bulgarian folk ensemble Nevrokop. Since emigrating to the US in 2001, he has performed and taught in numerous Bay Area venues as well as international music camps and has received support from ACTA and the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission.

Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal at the Starry Plough presents TERGA

Saturday, September 20 at the Starry Plough Pub

Show starts at 8 pm. Doors open at 7 pm.

Tickets: $20 at the door/$15 for students. Cash, card or Venmo accepted at the door.
All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
Food, beer and wine available from the bar.

Visit Facebook Event

Terga is a band which draws its inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of North Africa. Terga means “Dreams” in Amazighi, the Berber language. Terga was founded by Said Krache, an accomplished vocalist and mandole player from Tunisia and currently based in Oakland, CA.
Visit Band Page.

Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal at the Starry Plough presents
Terga (10 pm) and Vardari (8 pm)

Saturday, August 16 at the Starry Plough Pub

Show starts at 8 pm. Doors open at 7 pm.

Tickets: $20 at the door/$15 for students. Cash, card or Venmo accepted at the door.
All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
Food, beer and wine available from the bar.

Visit Facebook Event

Terga is a band which draws its inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of North Africa. Terga means “Dreams” in Amazighi, the Berber language. Terga was founded by Said Krache, an accomplished vocalist and mandole player from Tunisia and currently based in Oakland, CA.
Visit Band Page.

Vardari is an exploration of shared Balkan melodies, celebrating the interconnected musical traditions of the Balkan region with a focus on the Hellenic world. The pieces will feature original arrangements for a world fusion ensemble, exploring Balkan music through nine different languages and reflecting the region’s diverse cultural history. The name Vardari comes from the Vardar or Vardaris River is a source of both sustenance and inspiration. The river — like the music — transcends borders. Fronted by Greek-Croatian-American flautist and vocalist Ellie Falaris Ganelin, Vardari is a project of Kombos Collective, formerly the Greek Chamber Music Project.

Visit Band Page.

The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal presents
Fanfare Zambaleta (10 pm)
Dodona (8 pm)
Saturday, July 19
Show starts at 8pm; doors open at 7pm
The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA

Tickets: $20 general/$15 students. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm. Beer, wine and food available from the bar. Kitchen closes at 10 pm.

Fanfare Zambaleta (roughly meaning crazy street party with brass) is an eight piece Balkan Brass band specializing in spirited music of the Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek and especially the Romani people. Combining a love of the classic brass bands of the past with the modern sounds coming out of the Balkans, Fanfare Zambaleta brings an irresistible blend of old and new to get you dancing! They’ve learned from some of the greats including Demiran Ćerimović, Džambo Aguševi Orkestar and Nizo Alimov (of Kočani Orkestar) and are now embarking on a new journey to write original tunes inspired by their deep love of the music. The band is directed by Gregory Masaki Jenkins (alto sax, clarinet) and features Joey Friedman (alto sax), Noah Levitt, Peter Bonos, and Max Miller-Loran (trumpets), Rachel MacFarlane and Adam Waite (mid horns), Evan Stuart (sousaphone) and Ivan Velev (percussion, vocals).

Dodona: Drawing from the deep well of musical traditions from Albania and the Epirus region of Greece, Dodona moves between the mournful to the celebratory. The members of this new group have a specific goal, to bring out their love for the melodies of this small region. With a repertoire that goes from plaintive, to trance inducing, to driving, Dodona is one of the few groups in the Bay Area specifically focused on the Albanian and Epirus diaspora. So whether you love a good tsamiko, or the familiarity of a syrtos, or even if you just love to dance with wild abandon this unique band is sure to deliver. Dodona’s members are Calvin Lai on clarinet, Greg Jenkins on clarinet and vocals, vocalist Genevieve Daphne, violinist Ari Langer, Jenette Selin on accordion, Kent Kessinger on guitar and Sean Tergis on drums.

The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal presents
Ezgija (8 pm)
Krekhts (10 pm)
Saturday, June 21
Show starts at 8pm; doors open at 7pm
The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA

Tickets: $20 general/$15 students. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm. Beer, wine and food available from the bar. Kitchen closes at 10 pm. Join Facebook Event.

EZGIJA is Santa Cruz’s newest band, serving up our favorite dance tunes from the Balkans, Anatolia, and beyond! With Shireen Nabatian’s sweet vintage vocals and soaring violin, we explore themes of love, loss, and celebration—presenting forgotten gems from the archives alongside fresh material from her yearly travels in Türkiye. Jonathan Kipp’s accordion playing is fierce and explosive, laced with a moody edge. Hossein Shoiaee adds unexpected twists and textures that keep things electric and genre-bending on guitar. And Evan Stuart holds it all together on bass, with warmth and heart at the core of every tune. Whether it’s a smoky love ballad, a rowdy wedding song, or a mournful lament, EZGIJA brings the spirit of these traditions to dance floors around the Bay Area and beyond with joy, soul, and a lot of sass.
Like Ezgija on Facebook.

Krekhts: A krekht (קרעכץ) is a crack – a shrill cry of the clarinet or a break in the voice. An imperfection, but one which comes straight from the heart. Krekhts is a rough and ready Berkeley psycho-klezmer band that sifts through the deep drawers of Klezmer history — from the factory floor to the cheapest seats in the Second Avenue cabaret, to the Borscht Belt and the Yiddish radio. They play frenetic bulgars and soul-wrenching ballads in mameloshn (Yiddish), medineh-loshn (English) and loshnkoydesh (Hebrew). Binya Kóatz (vocals), Atid Kimelman (clarinet), Aaron Goldstein (drums/vocals), Daniel Goldberg (alto sax), Zina Pozen (accordion), Duygu Gün (guitar) and Seng Chen (bass) forge gelt from the Yiddish past to pave the way towards the joyously liberated Yiddish future. Listen to Krekhts on Bandcamp