Meet The Bands
(subject to change)
Merita Halili & Raif Hyseni
Balkanarama plays popular dance songs of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s from southeastern Europe, including songs of the Roma minority. The Seattle quintet includes alto sax, clarinet, keyboard, drums, bass, and four voices singing in eight languages. Balkanarama has performed at festivals, weddings, dance parties and concerts in the Pacific Northwest since 1997 and has released three CDs. Follow them on Facebook!
Black Sea Dance with Izumi
“Black Sea Dance with Izumi” emerges from weekly dances held by Izumi Fairbanks, primarily featuring circle dances from the Black Sea/Caucasus region. They include Turkish Karadeniz, Pontic Greek and Artvin dances, often accompanied by live Black Sea fiddle kemence or lyra, and accordion by Izumi.
Bonaca (Croatian for “calm seas”) is a multi-piece tamburica orchestra which performs music from Croatia, Central & Southeast Europe, and beyond. Bonaca Seattle started making music in 2010 when its founding members wanted to create a group that could play like a great tamburica band but also sing like a traditional Dalmatian klapa. Bonaca’s repertoire includes both traditional and modern songs from Croatia and its surrounding countries, as well as some American classics.
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Bulgarian Voices of Seattle is a women’s choir, formed in 2011 by founding director Mary Sherhart, now directed by Teodora Dimitrova, and accompanied on accordion by former artistic director Michael Lawson.The choir is sponsored by the Bulgarian Cultural and Heritage Center of Seattle. All of the singers were born in Bulgaria ranging age from 18 to 90. We sing traditional and arranged folk songs from Bulgaria. We provide a musical bridge into Bulgarian heritage for the Bulgarian community and the general public through performances at Bulgarian and other community events.
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Caravan Pass
Caravan Pass brings a high-energy blend of Balkan, Romani, and Eastern Mediterranean dance music. Their sound leans into driving čoček rhythms, soaring clarinet lines, and expressive synth textures, drawing inspiration from artists like Ferus Mustafov and Dzambo Agusevi.
The band features Avi Kerson (accordion & synths), Monty Kerson (clarinet), Nick Maroussis (guitar), Mic Pogo (drums), and Stavroula Tsantilas (percussion). Between them, members have performed with groups such as Orkestar Zirconium, Dromeno, and the late Alexander Eppler.
Bandcamp: https://caravanpass.bandcamp.com/
Eleni Govetas Kompania showcases Eleni’s original Balkan-inspired original compositions on violin. Eleni Govetas writes and performs music in the Balkan style, using a musical vocabulary that permeates that whole region. Soulful melodies with a healthy dose of grit layered with Mik Bewsky’s surf-punk inspired guitar virtuosity introduce you to a whole new genre of music you never knew you needed!
She joins forces with brother Bobby Govetas holding it down on Bass, and Nico Sophiea on Drums.
Gin & Pontic
We play the music of the Greek communities that once lived on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Songs of love, loss, & life are sung in the Pontian dialect to the beat of the daouli and the sounds of the kemence (Pontian lyra.) Dancing is highly recommended!
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Good Vibes Brigade
Good Vibes Brigade is a brass / woodwind combo from Tacoma and Bremerton. We play upbeat, danceable Eastern European, pop, and funk tunes. After attending Balkan Night NW 2025, we couldn’t resist adding more and more Balkan tunes to our repertoire and infusing Balkan beats into the rest. We’re looking forward to spreading good vibes at Balkan Night NW 2026!
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Based in Eugene, Kef has been performing dance music of Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania and Greece since 2006. Members are a mix of conservatory-trained and traditional folk musicians with a broad range of professional experience. Instrumentation consists of two trumpets, alto sax, accordion, cello and drums.
Orkestar RTW is a five-piece band based in Seattle, Washington that began in 1987 as the house band for the Radost Folk Ensemble. Named in the tradition of post-World War II Balkan radio and television house bands (such as Orkestar Radio-Televizije Beograd), Orkestar RTW (Radio-Televizije Washington) plays the music of those bands, primarily traditional dance and folk music from the countries of Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Serbia.
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PugetSoundz
PugetSoundz is a multicultural rock band from Woodinville created by Turkish, Hungarian, and American musicians who share a love for Eastern European folk and Anatolian rock. We play songs in Turkish, Hungarian, Greek, and English, all driven by upbeat, inviting rhythms that audiences of all backgrounds can dance to and enjoy.
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Shpilkis is an 8-piece Seattle-based Klezmer brass band bringing you old-school Yiddish grooves with tuchus-shaking energy. Founded in 2017, Shpilkis continues to highlight a thriving repertoire mixing old country archives and American modernity.
Will we play at your wedding, b’mitzvah, bris, or block party? Yes, we will.
FB/IG: @ShpilkisSeattle
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Sina Roza
Founded in 2024, Sina Roza—or, if you’re being fancy, “Sindikat Sina Roza” (the “Blue Rose Syndicate” in Macedonian)—is Seattle’s newest and only dedicated Balkan brass band, bringing the vibrant folk music of the Balkans to the Pacific Northwest.
Weaving together complex, infectious rhythms with haunting, soulful melodies, tight vocal harmonies, and the raucous, jubilant sounds of a street brass party, Sina Roza aims to connect cultures and communities in a celebration of joyful, participatory art that transcends the confines of time and place.
Embracing explicitly anti-capitalist, anti-fascist values, the band draws inspiration from both beloved, well-known standards and dusty, rediscovered gems—with songs that originate everywhere from Sarajevo to Istanbul—and sources much of their music from the rich traditions of Balkan Romani communities. Sina Roza seeks to share this richness with their audiences with authenticity and respect, striving to resist all forms of oppression and exploitative appropriation, and support struggles for Romani liberation.
Whether fans are seasoned aficionados or simply Balkan-curious, the band’s exuberant sound never fails to bring folks together in shared moments of music, movement, and connection—with performances that invariably leave listeners unable to stay still and resist the urge to join the irrepressible revelry.
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Slavej
Slavej, which means “nightingale”, performs dance music of Slavic and Romani communities in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and South Serbia. We are: Carol Silverman (vocals), Mark Levy (clarinet), Michael Lawson (accordion), Cody Simmons (trumpet), and David Bilides (tapan). If we added up our combined experience with Balkan music, it would probably be several hundred years. Band members are from Eugene, Seattle, and central Washington.
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Taman
Talia McGill and John Morovich, is a vocal duet based in Seattle which specializes in sweet, danceable tunes of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and beyond. They are often accompanied by Anton Kirilov on Bulgarian tapan. The group has performed for listening and dancing pleasure for a decade.
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Tamburaški Orkestar Kišobran
Tamburaški Orkestar Kišobran is a 25 member tamburitza orchestra which performs traditional and contemporary music from Croatia and beyond. Under the direction of John Morovich, the group has appeared regularly at BNNW, CroatiaFest and Croatian Fraternal Union Tamburitza Festivals. Many Kisobranci are original members of the Seattle Junior Tamburitzans.
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Taraf Pajura
Taraf Pajura is a folkloric and Balkan rock band.
We are searching for sounds that unite the people of the Balkan region and beyond. We play mostly Romanian folkloric songs, respecting our background and ancestor’s heritage, but we explore further south of the Danube river. The rich culture of the Balkans inspire us to create music that brings an original flavor to the existing modern culture and music scene.
We post regularly on our youtube channel, Alexandru Mihai, and intend to grow our audience slowly but surely.
Check us out on Facebook as well, on our page: Taraful Pajura.
Subscribe to our youtube channel and our facebook page and help us grow our presence.
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Toroman
Toroman is a Seattle-based multigenerational folk band delving into Pirin and Shope musical styles, built around the father-son core of Dimitar (vox/guitar) and Georgi Toromanov (vox/percussion).
After starting out as a duo with special guests at BNNW and Folklife NW 2024, Toroman grew over the summer to add Milka Bosilkova (darbuka, vocals); Jana Rickel (tupan, vocals); Shaun Burley (clarinet); and Andy Wickell (violin). The tradition to invite special guests continues, and in December 2024, Toroman played a full set at the Hall of St. Demetrios, with special appearance by Vasil Denev and Dragi Spasovski.
Georgi (Toromanov) – vocals and percussion, 14 year old Georgi has been on stage singing and playing drums since first grade.
Dimitar (Toromanov) – vocals and guitar, is delving deeper into his Pirin and Shop interest, bridging familial roots from across the Balkans.
Milka (Bosilkova) – classically trained percussionist and experienced folk singer with BG voice of Seattle takes care of the top end harmony and tarambuka.
Jana (Rickel) – a longtime lead dancer at SBD and experienced musician with RTW and Zakuska, Jana brings her powerful alto and booming tupan to the band.
Shaun (Burley) – clarinet, is balancing his love for Balkan and Eastern Europe tonalities with classical orchestra engagements across PNW.
Andy (Wickell) is an established violinist in repertoire orchestras around Seattle, and is equally at home leading classical, hidjaz, and kletzmer numbers.
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Portland’s only four-member trio, Trio Tsuica plays café and dance music from Romania, Hungary, and nearby countries on violin, accordion, cimbalom, and bass. The group takes its name from the homemade plum brandy of Romania. Like the spirit, the music will bring fire to your heart, a dance to your toes, and a smile to your face.