| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, March 7, 2014 | 7:00PM - 9:30PM | External Event, Piano Room, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3 |
In Ukrainian village cultures, it is the zozulka–the little cuckoo bird–that often bears sad news, brings bad luck, or foreshadows heartbreak. Zozulka, featuring Eva Salina Primack, Willa Roberts, and Maria Sonevytsky, brings the haunting multi-part women’s vocal repertoire of the Ukrainian village to life in expressive, dynamic interpretations of songs that are little-known beyond Ukraine. Rich with harmony, strident unisons, and powerful lyrics, these songs transport you to the dense forests and wide-open steppes of another place and time. Formed in 2011 in New York City as an outgrowth of The Chornobyl Songs Project (coached by the legendary Kyivan master singer and ethnomusicologist Yevhen Yefremov), the Zozulka trio focuses on ritual and lyrical village songs from Poltava and Polissia, regions in Central and Northern Ukraine.
Website: http://zozulkatrio.wordpress.com/
Information about the trio members:
A native of Santa Cruz, California, Eva Salina Primack has been immersed in Balkan music and culture since she was a young child. She has studied with some of the greatest living singers of Balkan traditional music. Eva’’s rich, versatile, agile, deep and powerful voice and her enthusiastic, skillful, inspired and inspiring teaching have led her to quickly become a reknowned singer, interpreter, and teacher of Traditional Balkan Vocal music. Singing primarily through the traditions of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and the Romani people, Eva has also studied Georgian, Corsican, Traditional American, and Ukrainian singing.
Eva has collaborated to varying degrees (performing, touring, recording, and teaching) with many Balkan and American musicians, including Slavic Soul Party!, Which Way East, Kadife, Veveritse, Choban Elektrik, Seido Salifoski’’s Romski Boji, Édessa, Tzvetanka Varimezova, Italian Balkan/Jazz Project Opa Cupa, Ukrainian Vocal Trio Zozulka, and KITKA. Eva received a B.A. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, where she studied extensively with Tzvetanka Varimezova. From 2009-2011 Eva toured primarily with Ash (Æ), a vocal duo focused on the traditions of the Balkans, Appalachia, Caucasus Georgia, and Corsica. For the last 8 years, Eva has also worked closely with the Museum of Jurassic Technology, including live performances at the museum in Los Angeles, two film soundtracks, and live film score performances. Recent collaborations include a tour in Belgium and France (March 2013) with Miléna Kartowski, and concerts and live film score with Bosnian concert accordionist Merima Ključo, as well as working with Frank London on a variety of different projects.
Eva travels frequently, to perform but also as a vocal instructor, as she has quickly become one of the leading teachers of Balkan Singing in the US. Eva currently performs solo, with her quartet, and with her Big Band/Šaban Project.
Willa Roberts has been singing and playing music from Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East for fifteen years. She is a versatile vocalist and violinist, and has studied with an array of exceptional musicians in various traditions, including Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Albanian, Greek, Arabic, and Georgian, among others. Willa also enjoys inspiring fellow singers with lessons and workshops in vocal techniques from these regions. Willa is a member of several ensembles in New York City, including Black Sea Hotel, Zozulka, and Zaytin Dali.
Maria Sonevytsky is an ethnomusicologist, multi-instrumentalist, singer and teacher. In addition to studying and performing Ukrainian village songs, she performs with cabaret-pop darlings The Debutante Hour, with the experimental new music collective Anti-Social Music, and with her husband, Franz Nicolay. She completed her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at Columbia University in 2012, and held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University, Columbia University, and the University of Toronto. Beginning in September of 2014, she will be an Assistant Professor of Music at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Www.mariasonevytsky.com
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.