$20 general/$15 students. Show starts at 8 pm. Doors open at 7 pm. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes. Food, beer and wine available from the bar.
Dodona (10 pm): 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 Jonathan Kipp on accordion and vocals, Kent Kissinger on guitar, and Calvin Lai on clarinet. We are also grateful to be joined by Sean Tergis on percussion.
Nakarat (8 pm) is a San Francisco-based duo featuring Duygu Gun (voice & guitar) and Jonathan Kipp (accordion & voice). Their music is a vibrant, emotional melange of folk songs in Turkish, Ladino, Greek, Griko, and Italian, evoking a Mediterranean breeze with spicy nomadic tunes from the region.
Cretan Night at the Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal Manolis Bobolakis and Vaggelis Bagourakis Satuday, February 10
The Starry Plough Pub 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
$20. Doors open at 8 pm, show starts at 9 pm. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes. Food, beer and wine available from the bar.
Pre-show dance lesson at 8 pm, led by Achilleas Fourakis, co-director of the Minoan Dancers Greek folklore dance ensemble, a ministry of the Nativity of Christ Greek Orthodox Church in Novato.
Manolis Bobolakis is from the village of Sempronas in the Hania region of Crete. Like most mountainous villages on the island it is mostly an agricultural area, and full of farm animals, olive trees, and chestnuts. Along with helping his family with the farm animals and chestnut trees, he has been playing traditional Cretan violin from a very young age. He has played countless cultural events and also has a studio album to his name.
Vaggelis Bagourakis plays the laouto and is the son of lyra player Tassos Bagourakis from Heraklion, Crete. From an early age his entire life revolved around traditional Cretan music. With his father as his teacher Vaggeli progressed very quickly, and he would frequently join in with his father’s band at various events. Coming from a musical family has led Vaggeli to currently being one of the youngest and most talented up and comers in the modern scene of Cretan music.
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.
8:30 pm Dance lesson 9 pm: Helios Greek Band with Aya Safiya
Saturday, January 20, 2023 Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted.
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.
The Helios Band is one of the most versatile Greek bands in Northern California, playing traditional Rembetika, Laika, Nissiotika, Demotika and Modern Greek music. Helios has performed at Greek Festivals throughout the western U.S. and has also performed at celebrity weddings in the Bay Area (S.F. Giants Hunter Pence Wedding) and in Big Sur ( Spotify founder Sean Parker Wedding). The outstanding musicianship and vocals of the Helios Band members make each performance a truly special and memorable event. The band is available for weddings, baptisms, festivals, parties and other events at reasonable rates.
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 has performed 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.
Saturday, December 16, 2023 Show starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7 pm. Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted.
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.
La Zuli combines the virtuosic talents of violinist Briana Di Mara and guitarist and vocalist Anis Sehiri. Together they weave fresh original melodies and danceable rhythms influenced by music everywhere from Spain to North Africa to the Balkans and beyond. With lush harmonies and improvisations combining with powerful bass and drums, their music is uplifting and inspiring. For this concert they will be joined by Josh Mellinger (drums) and Erinn Wilkerson (bass).
Nakarat is a San Francisco-based duo featuring Duygu Gun (voice & guitar) and Jonathan Kipp (accordion & voice). Their music is a vibrant, emotional melange of folk songs in Turkish, Ladino, Greek, Griko, and Italian, evoking a Mediterranean breeze with spicy nomadic tunes from the region.
8pm: Balkan Ensemble Meraklii with Rumen Sali Shopov 10 pm: Lars and In Charge
November 18, 2023 Show starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7 pm. Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted.
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.
LARS AND IN CHARGE plays high-energy dance music from the Balkans and Near East. Lars Tergis leads the charge on violin with driving, gritty interpretations of Turkish Roman and Greek dance tunes, and original compositions. Chris Reid adds a touch of ‘West’ with percussive chordal accompaniment on steel-string guitar. Joe Rosato Jr. fills out the low end on upright bass while Sean Tergis and Faisal Zedan keep the beat popping on derbekki, riqq and davul.
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 master Turkish-Romani drummer, singer, and tambura player from Goce Delchev, Bulgaria, a crossroads town in the Pirin Mountain region that hosts a rich intersection of Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, and Turkish musical influences. More Information
The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal at the Starry Plough presents Fanfare Zambaleta
Fanfare Zambaleta is back at the Bacchanal and better than ever… bringing you 2 full sets of heavy-hitting brass music and folk dancing!
Show starts at 9 pm, doors open at 8 pm. Tickets: $20 general, $15 students. Cash or Venmo accepted. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes. The Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
FANFARE ZAMBALETA – a ten piece Balkan brass band specializing in high spirits music of the Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek and Balkan Romani people. Fanfare Zambaleta means crazy street party– with brass! Getting their start in 2012 as an offshoot of the Zambaleta Music and Dance school in SF, this band has been rocking clubs, weddings, and dance halls throughout the west coast ever since! 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 also 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) and features Joey Friedman (alto sax), Benji Rifati (trumpet), Max Miller-Loran (trumpet), Evan Stuart (sousaphone), Ivan Velev (percussion), Peter Bonos (euphonium), Rachel MacFarlane (tenor horn) & Adam Waite (tenor horn).
Join us for a fun night of Balkan brass and folkdance music. Bill Cope’s Orkestrar Unbound will open the show and we will proceed to round out the evening with Tano Brock’s Sarma Brass Band as we celebrate Benji Rifati’s birthday!
Saturday, September 16 The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal Presents Sarma Brass Band Orkestar Unbound
The Starry Plough Pub 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
Show starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7 pm. Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
Sarma Brass Band is a balkan brass band that evokes the energetic grooves and soaring melodies of the Balkan Roma. The band draws upon founder/leader Tano Brock’s upbringing in the Balkan music scene in Northern California, as well as his travels and studies throughout the Balkans. They play original material as well as a variety of traditional music from Macedonia, Serbia, Greece, and Albania. Featuring musicians from the US, Serbia, Turkey, and Palestine, Sarma Brass Band represents an international love of Balkan Brass. Their full and epic sound, consisting of groovy melodies and chest-thumping rhythms will entice even the most shy listener to dance.
Tano Brock, saxophone; Benji Rifati, trumpet; Sean Tergis, percussion; Marco Peris, percussion; Peter Bonos, euphonium; Evan Stuart, sousaphone; Aya Safiya, voice.
Opening the show at 8 pm, Orkestar Unbound features multi-instrumentalist bandleader Bill Cope, Asaf Ophir on woodwinds, vocalist Emily Saletan and Dan Auvil on drums.
Bill Cope is a multi-instrumentalist who does not focus on just one instrument but performs on over 60 in many diverse concert settings. Bill began playing Balkan music in the mid-1970s after falling in love with the music while part of a dance group based in San Jose, California. He began his teaching career giving lessons on tambura at the Mendocino Balkan Music & Dance workshops in 1982, and to date he has taught at many workshops around the country.
Bill has been the music director of San Francisco-based WestWind International Folk Ensemble, AMAN International Dance Ensemble, Mendocino Folklore Camp, and the San Francisco Kolo Festival. He was the Administrative Director of the East European Folklife Center in the early 90s. He is currently the director of the San Francisco Kolo Festival and manages his own house concert venue Cope-a-Cabana.
Emily Saletan was raised by folk dancing parents in the Boston area and the Pacific Northwest and is thrilled to be joining the dance community in California. They are now an undergraduate at Stanford University, where they also teach an introductory folk dance course and partner with Richard to teach social dance. Favorite credits in the Bay Area include performing with contemporary circus company Circa and recording vocals for the premiere of “with” at ODC Dance.
It was love at first sight 30 years ago when Dan Auvil saw the large, two-headed drum called the tupan. He is a masterful percussionist on a variety of Balkan and Middle Eastern hand drums. Dan was a founding member of Édessa and Ziyiá (www.ziyia.com) and has toured and taught nationally and internationally.
Sept. 16: Bill Cope’s Orkestar Unbound & Sarma Brass Band Oct. 21: Fanfare Zambaleta Nov. 18: Lars and In Charge & Balkan Ensemble Meraklii with Rumen ‘Sali’ Shopov
Join us for an evening of Turkish, Balkan and Romanian with Çağıl Çokan and Andrew Cohen. We are excited to have Çağıl Çokan and her band for their debut at the bacchanal plus an opening set with virtuoso accordionist Andrew Cohen of Spaga!
Saturday, August 19
Show starts at 9 pm, doors open at 8 pm. Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
The Starry Plough Pub 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
Turkish musician Çağıl Çokan (pronounced ‘chah-ill cho-kahn’) is a masterful flute player, vocalist and multi instrumentalist. After her studies at a classical music conservatory, she roamed around the world to share the music from her homeland Turkey among many other genres. She participated in and arranged jazz festivals in Brazil where she lived and performed for over ten years. Drummer, composer and singer Zion Ra has been mastering his drums since he was a child in a Haitian church where his mother was a priest. For him music is a way of devotion and never-ending learning process. Romo is a guitarist, singer and composer. He has lived in Spain and Brazil where he deepened his love for flamenco and samba music. His love for guitar started at a young age and developed into one of his greatest passions. He has been playing Turkish music with Çağıl Çokan for more than a decade.
Andrew Cohen is on a mission with the accordion. After experiencing an existential crisis common among classically trained musicians, he decided to pick up the instrument and hasn’t looked back. Andrew performed constantly for years as part of the rich Bay Area Balkan music scene, learning traditional folk music from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, and Turkey. After a time, Romanian Gypsy music, Muzica Lautareasca caught his attention. In 2019, after recording his album Californeasca featuring professional Romanian vocalist Ionela Guzic, Andrew was invited to study in Romania with master accordionist Ionica Minune, living for months with him, his wife, and their ten dogs in the village of Stefanestii-de-Jos. To date, Andrew is the first and only American musician to be given the opportunity to study with Ionica who is one of the national figures of Romania, and the experience has inspired him to bring this virtuosic and little-known music to an audience here in the US. Andrew has performed at many venues around California and the western US, and at festivals including Outside Lands and Symbiosis festival. Andrew has also studied for years with master musician Sergiu Popa, and has degrees in Music Education and Instrumental Performance from the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut. He currently runs a music school in San Francisco named Village Music and lives in Bolinas, California.
Join us for an evening of Balkan, Romanian and Turkish Music with Orchestra Euphonos and friends. We are excited to have Balder Ten Cate back in the bay and have put together a special program featuring his parents, vocalist Shireen Nabatian and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Kipp!
Saturday, July 15
Show starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7 pm. Tickets: $20 at the door. Cash or Venmo accepted. All ages before 10 pm. 21+ after 10 pm when kitchen closes.
ORCHESTRA EUPHONOS is a Bay Area-based Eastern European folk ensemble specializing in Moldovan, Romanian, and Klezmer music. Their uplifting sound is characterized by a brass and woodwind melodic front line. Their performances are joyous occasions filled with wild takes on old favorites and more than a few opportunities to dance.
Featured Performers: Peter Bonos – Trumpet, Balder Ten Cate – Cimbalom, Jonathan Kipp – Percussion and Accordion, Marco Ghezzo – Violin, Zina Pozen – Accordion, Leo Peringer – Bass. Special Guests: Shireen Nabatian – voice, plus more TBA
Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal 