Tuesday, May 30, 8 pm
at Zephyr Community Art Studio
in support of Media Jeweler from LA
1520 Center Drive #2, Santa Fe
$5-10 suggested donation, no one turned away
The Rumelia Collective is Sitara Schauer, Nicolle Jensen and Alysha Shaw, as well as Willa Roberts and Hayriye Büsra Solak (not pictured).
The music of the Balkans and Middle East will swirl and drone throughout San Miguel Chapel when the Rumelia Collective takes the stage Saturday in Santa Fe.
Rife with drones and set in odd time signatures and tonalities, this Balkan gypsy folk music sounds exotic to western ears. The group sets its five-part vocal harmonies against guitar, violin, accordion, mandolin, lute and percussion.
“It brings back this quality of song from a different time and place,” group member Alysha Shaw said. “It’s different from country to country and region to region.”
The performance will span music from Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia and Turkey.
Rumelia has reformed under a new name: Rumelia Collective. We are looking forward to debuting a new sound at the San Miguel Chapel on Saturday February 4, 2017 at 7:30 PM!
The concert at the chapel will feature performances by Nicolle Jensen, Willa Roberts, Sitara Schauer, Alysha Shaw, and Hayriye Büşra Solak. We will present a selection of our favorite vocal music from Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, and Turkey.
Rumelia Collective is a collective of musicians who love playing the music of the Balkans and Mideast, as well as many other musical styles from around the world. Our range is wide— we can bring you dance grooves unlike anything else you can find in a club in Santa Fe, and we can also fill an ancient chapel with striking vocal harmonies in non-western tonalities. We’ve been told that our live performance is an experience not to be missed.
Who: Rumelia Collective
What: A concert of Balkan vocal music
Where: at the San Miguel Chapel 401 Old Santa Fe Trail
When: Saturday, February 4, 2017 7:30 PM
Ticket Details: $20 General Admission, $10 Students and Seniors, Children under 12 FREE. Tickets are available at the door.
For more information call: 505-795-9145
Santa Fe Reporter – September 2, 2015
Think of the term “Balkan music” for just a second. Can you hear it in your head? Sort of, maybe? It’s actually a tricky proposition, thanks in part to acts like Gogol Bordello or even the superhuman Beirut adding a sort of indie-rock (read: hipster) layer to the traditionally southeastern European style of folk music and diluting some of the cultural norms. Thank goodness, then, for Rumelia. The local quartet, comprised of Nicolle Jensen (voice and percussion), Sitara Schauer (violin/vocals), Alysha Shaw (vocals and percussion) and Deborah Ungar (clarinet and accordion), has been kicking around town for ages, slowly but surely developing its style and winning fans while cultivating a more authentic homage to the folk music of Greece, Turkey, Romania, Macedonia and oh-so-many other countries.
Read the article in the Santa Fe Reporter »
Exploring the music of Rumelia is akin to taking a melodic tour from Greece to Turkey, Hungary to the Ukraine, and all points in between and around the Balkans.
With some 200 songs in its repertoire, this all-woman band (Deborah Ungar, Alysha Shaw, Nicolle Jensen and Sitara Schauer) has been serenading Santa Feans in both sit-down and folk dance concerts since 2010.
Read the article in the Albuquerque Journal »
Rumelia, which calls itself a contemporary Balkan folk group, consists of, from left, Sitara Schauer, Deborah Ungar, Nicolle Jensen and Alysha Shaw.
From the KUNM website:
“Recorded on March 21, 2014, this edition features the Balkan sounds of Santa Fe’s Rumelia. After recording their debut CD “Lost and Found” the group has expanded their repertoire of traditional songs from Southern and Eastern Europe and the Balkans to over 200 pieces. Performing currently as a quartet, Rumelia played for us in this trio format.”
Alicia Shaw: lead vocals, dumbek
Sitara Schauer: parlor guitar, violin, vocals
Deborah Ungar: accordion, clarinets, vocals
Engineered by Roman Garcia with Marshall Broyles with camera/videography by Jefferson White
“Lost and Found,” considered as a finalist in two categories in the 2014 New Mexico Music Awards.
Best Instrumental Performance
Rumelia
Pajduska Trojka
N. Jensen, S. Schauer, D. Ungar
Monkey House Records
Best Vocal Performance
Rumelia
Nardanina
N. Jensen, S. Schauer, D. Ungar
Monkey House Records
Some of the instruments of Rumelia, photograph by Jason S. Ordaz
Rumelia featured in the March 28, 2014 edition of the Pasatiempo. Read the story by Paul Weideman at the Santa Fe New Mexican’s website.
Talkin’ Balkan: Dedicated musicians of Rumelia
Rumelia at San Miguel Chapel on March 29, 2014, photograph by Jason S. Ordaz