Featuring: Rumen Sali Shopov, tambura & percussion, Macedonian Rom clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski (from NYC), Chris Bajmakovich, Rom accordionist from Chicago, and Djordje Stijepovic, bass, together with the popular Bay Area Balkan band, Edessa.

Additional performing artists include Bay Area's Brass Liberation Orchestra. VOR will include a brief panel presentation by several individuals to discuss their experiences as ESL teachers and as volunteers with VOR projects assisting Roma in Kosovo. Mediterranean appetizer-meze plate, hand made Romani crafts, CDs and literature will be available for purchase at the event. On both Friday and Saturday afternoons, featured musicians are also offering instrumental workshops from 4-5:30pm.

International Roma Day (April 8) was officially declared in 1990 in Poland, during the fourth World Romani Congress in honor of the first major international meeting of Roma representatives, 7-12 of April, 1971 in London, UK. Since then Roma around the globe celebrate our social origins, language, culture, unity, and in particular, romipen (preservation of Rom identity) near the date of the original gathering.

VOR held San Francisco's first annual International Roma Day event in 2000. In addition to romipen, our goals are to introduce audiences to and provide performing opportunities for renowned Romani performing artists, create a gathering place for Romani and other immigrant and refugee communities, and raise awareness about the human rights issues faced by Roma in today's world. In particular, we focus on education regarding the dire circumstances of the Roma in and from Kosovo.

Romani traditional culture around the world and specifically in the U.S. is weakening. Old neighborhood communities, so nourishing to the culture, are disintegrating. Many young Roma don't do traditional dances, and some young Roma don't even share a language with previous generations of their families. This erosion of cultural identity and collective memory could easily result in the loss of Roma artistic expression and traditions that are infused with hundreds of years of history. VOR's International Roma Day celebration events respond directly to this need. The artists and Roma participants reconnect through their participation, strengthening ties to their culture and preserving the artistic expression of our people.

RUMEN SHOPOV

Rumen Shopov hails from Gotse Delchev, a crossroads town in southwest Bulgaria neighboring the borders of Greece and Macedonia. A master of the tambura (long necked mandolin), bouzouki, and an accomplished drummer and vocalist, Shopov was concertmaster of the Nevrokopski Folk Ensemble, Bulgaria's first national folk ensemble, for more than 20 years. He was also lead member of two of the Pirin region's hottest bands: Shturo Make and Orkestar Orbita. In 2002, he toured across America with the Kolev Family Ensemble. His music captures and showcases the sparkling fretwork, incendiary rhythms, and expressive soul of his native Bulgarian/Turkish-Romani musical tradition. Shopov has been artistic consultant to three previous VOR-International Roma Day celebrations.

ISMAIL LUMANOVSKI - SF event only

Ismail Lumanovski was born in Bitola, Macedonia, and began playing the clarinet at age 9. He made his debut in 1998 with the Macedonian Philharmonic, and his US debut in 2002 as the principal clarinetist with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp. Currently a member of the Julliard Symphony Orchestra, he has won many competitions and awards, including first prize at the 23rd, 24th and 25th National Macedonian Clarinet competition. Lumanovski has given numerous concerts in France, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey and the US, and recently toured internationally with world renowned oude player Marcel Khalife.

CHRIS BAJMAKOVICH - SF event only

Chris Bajmakovich, born in Chicago into a Macedonian Rom family, began playing accordion at age 5. He first professionally performed with a band at age 14, and gave solo performances in smaller venues, playing at weddings, christenings, church dances, and private parties, primarily in the large Balkan immigrant communities of Chicago. He also toured throughout the US with Macedonian singers. Bajmakovich has performed with many well-known musicians, including Ferus Mustafov, Milan Zavkov and Sasko Velkoy. He performed at VOR's 2006 International Roma Day event and has recorded several CDs.

DJORDJE STIJEPOVIC - SF event only

Djordje Stijepovic is often called the best slap style upright bassist of all times! He moved from Beograd to San Francisco in 2004 and already established himself as the favorite bassist for many world music bands from California (Fishtank Ensemble, Rupa and the April Fishes, Orkestar Sali...). While in Serbia, he recorded/toured with Kal (first position on European World Music charts), Marsya, Shira Utfila (RASA Award for the Best World Music Ensemble) and is featured as a solo artist on the latest Serbia Sounds Global compilation "All Stars" among great musicians like Saban Bajramovic, Boban Markovic etc. He has MA in Classical bass and degree in Jazz bass and arrangement. Besides with world music bands, he tours internationally with Rock'n'Roll legends Wanda Jackson, Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead) Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) and leads his own band, Atomic Sunset. www.djordjestijepovic.com

Other participating artists:

Sani Rifati - dance performer, instructor, percussion - www.voiceofroma.com
Peter Jaques - trumpet & clarinet - www.myspace.com/brassmenazeri
Dan Cantrell - accordion - www.bellowhead.com
Sean Tergis - doumbek
Edessa - www.edessamusic.com
Brass Liberation Orchestra - brassliberation.org

ANGEL SHOPOV - cancelled - visa denied

Angel Shopov is a multi-instrumentalist performing and teaching violin, tambura, bouzouki, and keyboards. Mr. Shopov was born and raised in Gotse Delchv Bulgaria, a unique crossroads of Romani, Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian and Turkish music and cultures. Angel learned each of these music styles in both the traditional, generation-to-generation process of his family and mahala (neighborhood), as well as from the Shiroka Luka folk music high-school, which Angel entered at the age of 12 despite the school's prejudice against accepting a Romani student. The Shiroka Luka school agreed to accept Angel after much persuasion and in part because he had earned the highest entrance scores of any of that year's applicants! Angel excelled and subsequently attended and graduated from the prestigious music conservatory in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Angel has won honors and awards every year of his studies, culminating with receiving his master's degree in folk music in 2008. Angel has performed and recorded with some of Bulgaria's most popular singers, including Orhan Murad, Sofija Marinova, Elena Parishava and Emilia. He is also plays regularly at the Theater Kadrea Letisova in Kurdzhali, Bulgaria.

Friday April 3, Croatian American Cultural Center, 4-5:30 p.m.
workshop TICKETS!  90 minutes, $20.

• Rumen Shopov – percussion (tupan, dumbek, etc.), Bulgarian-Turkish Romani traditional
• Ismail Lumanovski - clarinet, Macedonian Romani Balkan-fusion
• Chris Bajmakovich - accordion, Macedonian Romani Balkan-fusion