CONCERTS • FESTIVALS WORKSHOPS • RADIO • TV

Harmonia offers several residencies / workshops, depending on the audience, level of musicianship, and length of the workshop / residency.

1. "Hands on" folk orchestra workshop

Target audience: Musicians / Music students (instrumental or vocal)
 Level: Intermediate to advanced.

This is a group workshop with musicians in which Harmonia teaches them to play one or more tunes and put together a band playing our Eastern European music. We work both in sections and as a group. Appropriate instrumentalists would include: violin, viola, bass and cello; flute, recorder and clarinet, soprano sax, accordion, hammered dulcimer or cimbalom as well as percussionists. As part of this, one of the Harmonia members can teach the basics of playing tilinca (that’s the flute without finger holes that operates on harmonics) and supply several tilincas for student use. We can also supply a few sopilkas (recorder-like folk flutes) and a panpipe for student use during the workshop. For a longer residency (three days or longer), we can also supply up to 3 small sized cimbaloms on which students can learn the fundamentals of the instrument – (additional shipping costs paid by presenter). We typically teach first by ear – which develops a sense of styling – and then supply written notes in the form of a lead sheet and chords. The group’s female vocalist, can teach one or more songs as part of this kind of workshop, as well. 

Presented at: Balkan Music and Dance workshop

2. Lecture / Demonstration of East European Instruments

Target audience: General (level of detail can vary depending on audience)
 Level: Varied

Harmonia members talk about and demonstrate a variety of East European instruments that we use – 7 different types of folk flutes, cimbalom, tilinca, tarogot, sopilka, etc. Beata discusses, demonstrates and contrasts various types of vocal styles from Eastern Europe as part of this. If appropriate (for Ethnomusicology or acoustics students), we can be very detailed about the techniques and construction of the instruments. This workshop can be offered informally (questions from the audience interspersed with Harmonia’s commentary – for younger or general audiences), or as a more formal classroom lecture.  Presented at: The National Folk Alliance Conference. The Ohio Music Educators Association.

Presented at: Balkan Music and Dance workshop

Instruments

Harmonia performs on a wide range of authentic East European folk instruments including:

Cimbalom: The hammered dulcimer of East Europe, It exists in several forms in Eastern Europe. It was developed into a chromatic, four and a half octave concert instrument in mid 19th century Hungary by the instrument maker Schunda. The player can vary the sound by using different kinds of sticks and also by using pizzicato techniques and harmonics.
Nai, (panflute): An ancient folk instrument, it consists of 25 pipes joined together, each of which produces one sound.
Sopilka: A wooden shepherd.s flute with ten holes from Ukraine.
Fujara: A 6-7 foot long, 3 holed, bass fipple flute from Slovakia.
Tylynka, Tilincã : A simple folk flute from the Carpathian mountains with neither fipple nor holes; the player depends on overtones to play melodies.
Drymba: a jaw harp with a free beating metal tongue.
Zozulka: a ceramic, globular flute, similar to the ocarina
Frula, Fluier: a small six-holed shepherd.s flute.
Dvodencivka: a double flute that allows the player to play in harmony.
Taragot, Tarogató: With a single reed and a conical wooden bore similar to a wooden soprano saxophone, it is derived from an ancient Hungarian military instrument.
Gajdice: A double pipe with reeds and and cowhorn bells, with a sound reminiscent of bagpipes.
Buben: A large, two headed drum topped with a cymbal, played throughout eastern Europe. The instrument is a key part of the Ukrainian mountain music called troyista muzyka.

3. General Lecture-Demonstration Workshop on East European Music.

Target audience: General audiences to advanced university 
Level: Beginning to advanced

Harmonia members discuss East European music, instruments, and culture; they will also demonstrate various styles and types of music. The main topics include: • Locations of the countries and their cultural/political connections; • Instrument construction and performance techniques; • Performance experiences in Eastern European countries, with musical selections from each country; • Cultural settings of the music growing up in Eastern Europe and among US immigrant populations; • Wedding customs (compared and contrasted) in various Eastern European cultures.  Presented at: Bismarck Art & Galleries Association, Bismarck, ND (general audience), Kent Folk Festival, Kent, OH, Old Songs Festival, Albany, NY

4. School Workshop on East European Music

Target audience: Elementary, Middle School and Highschool students 
Level: Beginning – Intermediate

Harmonia presents an interactive concert: discuss East European geopgraphy, music, instruments, and culture; they also demonstrate various styles and types of music. The program can be tailored to coordinate with social studies units, history units or multi-cultural fairs. It can also be tailored to students participating in instrumental and vocal music programs. Folk flute demonstrations are particularly interesting to schools with elementary recorder/song flute programs. Program is interactive: students participate in singing and dance. The main topics/activities include: • Locations of the countries and their cultural connections; • Instrument construction and performance techniques – specifically aimed at kids • Performance experiences in Eastern European countries, with musical selections from each country • Cultural settings of the music growing up in Eastern Europe and among US immigrant populations  • Dance – groups of students are taught traditional dance.   Presented at: Bloominton City Schools, Bloominton, IN, Crestwood Highschool, Mantua, OH, Garfield Middle School, Garrettsville, OH, Calsieu Parrish Schools Lake Charles, LA

A multi-cultural group of master musicians from several countries performing on authentic folk instruments, Harmonia makes the depth, fire and passion of Carpatho-Rusyn, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Ukrainian, Croatian, and Gypsy music and culture come alive…

Highlights

Harmonia Selected Performances

CONCERTS

Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Series, Washington D. C.
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, (with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra), Baltimore, MD
Music Center at Strathmore, Bethesda, MD
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Reinberger Chamber Hall (Severance Hall), Cleveland, OH
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY
Hiram College, Hiram, OH
Michigan State University, Flint MI
The Whiting / Flint Cultural Center, Flint MI
Columbus Performing Arts Center, Columbus, OH
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Peninsula, OH
First Night, Oil City, PA
Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
Churchill Arts Council, Fallon, NV
Good Neighbors Theater, Byrdstown, TN
Cincinnati Celtic World Festival, Cincinnati, OH
Satalla: The Temple of World Music, New York City
Fairfax County Park Authority, Fairfax, VA
Trinity Church, Manhattan, NY
Folk Arts Center of New England, Boston, MA
Joe’s Pub, Manhattan, NY
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, Cleveland, OH
Rhythms on the River, Columbus, OH
Concert on the Green, Granville, OH
Bellefontaine Cultural Arts Commission, Bellefontaine, OH
Madam’s Organ, Washington, DC
Cleveland Public Theater, Cleveland, OH
The Focal Point Traditional Arts Center, St. Louis, MO
Lions Township Schools, LaGrange, IL
The Washington Group, Washington, DC
Defiance College, Defiance, OH
Hungarian Cultural Center, Manhattan, NY
Chicago Summer Dance, Chicago, IL
Folklore Society of Greater Washington, Washington, DC
Museum Mile, New York, NY
Chamizal National Park, El Paso, TX
The Knitting Factory, New York City
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
National Folk Alliance Conference
Severance Hall, Cleveland, OH
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
The Frick Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
Capitol A’Fair, Bismarck, ND
Ozark Cultural Center, Mountainview, AR
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH
Shepherdstown Music and Dance Concert Series, Shepherdstown, WV
Ethnic Expo, Columbia, IN
Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Berkeley Springs State Park, WV
Hungarian House, New York City
Bratislava-Cleveland Sister Cities Gala
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque

FESTIVALS

The Montana Folk Festival, Butte, MN
The National Folk Festival, East Lansing, MI
The National Folk Festival, Bangor, ME
Richmond Folk Festival, Richmond, VA
Lowell Folk Festival, Lowell, MA
Simply Slavic Festival, Youngstown, OH
World A’Fair International Festival, Dayton, Ohio
Washington Jewish Music Festival, Washington, DC
The Philadelphia Folk Festival
The Pittsburgh Folk Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
Lotus Blossoms Festival, Bloomington, IN
Kent State Folk Festival, Kent, OH
Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival, Parkersburg, WV
Festival of Freedom, Cleveland
Ohio State University, Newark, OH
Detroit Festival of Colors, Detroit, MI
Old Songs Festival, Albany, NY
Stone Soup Festival, San Luis Obispo, CA
CityFolk Festival, Dayton, OH

WORKSHOPS

Ohio Music Education Association Professional Conference
Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, Ramblewood, MD
Flint City Schools, Flint, MI
Bloomington City Schools, Bloomington, IN
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Pickett County Schools, Pickett County, TN
McNeese University, Lake Charles, LA
The University of Georgia, Athens, GA
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
The Iolani School, Honolulu, HI
Oklahoma City Library System, (residency) Oklahoma City, OK

RADIO/TELEVISION

NPR Washington DC,
PRI Chicago, IL
WCPN Cleveland, OH
FOX 45 Baltimore TV Station
The American Folklife Center’s Homegrown Concert Series, Washington, DC
Live Concert on WCPN Cleveland Public RadioLive
Concert on KUT Austin Public Radio, Austin Texas
Ornaments & Icing, National broadcast – National Public Radio