[FA Worldmusic] Merita Halili & Raif Hyseni Concert in Oakland, CA (6/21) - 1/2 Price Tix

[Shira Cion]

Dear World Music List Serve Friends,

Kitka hosts a rare West Coast appearance by "The Queen of Albanian 
Song" Merita Halili, accompanied by accordion wizard Raif Hyseni and 
percussionist Polly Tapia Ferber.

We'd like to extend a special 1/2-price ticket discount to members of 
the Northern California world music community.

But first, the concert info:
KITKA in concert with MERITA HALILI, RAIF HYSENI, and POLLY TAPIA FERBER
Songs from Albania
Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 8 PM
First Unitarian Church of Oakland
685 14th St., Oakland, CA (close to the Oakland City Center/12th St. 
BART station)
Reservations and info: www.kitka.org or 510.444.0323

To reserve your half-price tickets, go to http://www.kitka.org and 
follow the links to our on-line box office (www.brownpapertickets.com) 
when prompted to enter your discount code, enter "World Music".
This offer is good until 2 PM on Thursday, June 21.

MERITA HALILI AND RAIF HYSENI
  Widely recognized as the "Queen of Albanian Song", Merita Halili is 
one of Albania's top performers, renowned for her stunning voice, 
prodigious range and vocal technique. Raif Hyseni, originally from 
Kosova, leads the most sought-after Albanian ensemble in the US. Their 
performances thrill with masterful interpretations of traditional and 
contemporary Albanian songs, interspersed with repertoire from 
neighboring countries with large Albanian immigrant populations. 
National and international performance highlights include engagements 
at New York's Symphony Space and London's famed Barbican Centre. Halili 
recently performed internationally as part of the "Women of the World" 
tour with Irish singer Susan McKeown and Malian vocal diva Nahawa 
Doumbia. Her voice is also featured on the soundtrack of the 
award-winning Italian film Lamerica.

ABOUT ALBANIAN FOLK MUSIC
  Albanian folk music is known for its expansive melodies and cascades 
of intricate ornamentation. Its exotic-sounding scales are 
characteristic of old Ottoman-Turkish melodic modes known as "makams." 
Northern Albanian songs are famous for their epic lyrical poetry, while 
Southern Albanian songs feature a haunting and complex communal 
polyphony.

KITKA
  Kitka, which means "bouquet" in Bulgarian and Macedonian, began in 
1979 as a grassroots group of singers from diverse ethnic and musical 
backgrounds who shared a passion for the stunning dissonances, 
asymmetric rhythms, intricate ornamentation, and resonant strength of 
traditional Eastern European women's vocal music. Since then the group 
has evolved into an internationally-recognized touring ensemble known 
for its artistry, versatility, and mastery of the demanding techniques 
of Balkan and Slavic vocal styling. Through a busy itinerary of live 
and broadcast performances, recording, educational programs, master 
artist residencies, commissioning programs, and adventuresome 
collaborations, Kitka has exposed millions to the haunting beauty of 
their unique repertoire. Kitka's voices have been featured frequently 
on National Public Radio including special appearances on Performance 
Today, All Things Considered, and A Prairie Home Companion. The exotic 
and emotive power of KITKA's singing has been utilized in a number of 
film soundtracks, including  Jacob's Ladder, Braveheart, and Queen of 
the Damned, as well as in the American Conservatory Theater's 
critically acclaimed productions of Hecuba, starring Olympia Dukakis. 
In 2002, the group toured Bulgaria, where, as "international guests of 
honor" they shared the stage of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia 
with the world-renowned Bulgarian Women's Choir Le Mystere des Voix 
Bulgares. In 2005, KITKA journeyed to Ukraine to perform and gather 
traditional songs with the country's most celebrated folk singers. 
KITKA's field research in Ukraine led to the creation of an original 
vocal-theater piece, The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds 
featuring music by Ukrainian composer Mariana Sadovska and stage 
direction by Ellen Sebastian Chang.

KITKA has recorded seven albums on their own Diaphonica record label. 
Their most recent CD, music from The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the 
Worlds, was released in January 2007. Also this year, a new public 
television special produced by Forest Creatures Entertainment, Kitka 
and Davka in Concert: Old and New World Jewish Music, was broadcast 
nationwide.

The singers of KITKA are: Zlatka Baneva, Leslie Bonnett, Briget Boyle, 
Shira Cion, Catherine Rose Crowther, Juliana Graffagna, Phoebe 
Jevtovic, Janet Kutulas, and Natalia Ukrainska. For further 
information, visit: http://www.kitka.org.

TICKETS
  Ticket prices for Kitka in concert with Merita Halili and Raif Hyseni: 
Songs from Albania are $22 in advance, $25 at the door, and $20 for 
seniors, students and groups of 10 or more. Reservations can be made 
on-line at http://www.kitka.org or by telephone at (510) 444-0323. 
Tickets for all concerts are also available via the 
www.brownpapertickets.com 24/7 ticket hotline at (800) 838-3006.