Orkestar Seyir brings Tallava music from the Balkans to the USA, sometimes even mixing traditional Tallava dance rhythms with American EDM. Tallava is modern Balkan Roma music, a genre of music rarely played in the United States. The band is led by co-leaders Dvoraka La on the electronic violin/vocals and Jeff Giaquinto on the electric guitar. They are dedicated students of David Mamudov, a Macedonian Roma Tallava violinist and guitarist.
Kat Lopez-White (bellydance) will be collaborating with Orkestar Seyir for a portion of their set.
Rumen “Sali” Shopov is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and director of Balkan Ensemble Merkalii. Raised in the vibrant Turkish/Muslim/Romani neighborhood of Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria, he was immersed in Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Turkish, Serbian, and Romani music, and also served as concertmaster of the Bulgarian folk ensemble Nevrokop. Since emigrating to the US in 2001, he has performed and taught in numerous Bay Area venues as well as international music camps and has received support from ACTA and the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission.
