Happy Holidays from The Debutante Hour! A new Christmas Song is born…. listen to it HERE.
Dec 1-4: Chornobyl Songs Project in Princeton, NYC, Washington DC, and Philadelphia!
This week!
Chornobyl Songs Project: Living Culture from a Lost World
Village Songs from Ukraine performed by Ensemble Hilka (NYC)
Led by Music Director and Song Collector Yevhen Yefremov (Ensemble Drevo, Kyiv)
- Thursday, December 1: New Jersey – Princeton University, Taplin Auditorium, 7PM
- Friday, December 2: New York City – Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street (7PM)
- Saturday, December 3: Washington, DC – Washington Ethical Society Meeting Hall, 7750 16th Street NW (8PM)
- Sunday, December 4: Philadelphia – Crossroads Music at Calvary Church, 801 South 48th Street (7:30PM)
2011 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Chornobyl Disaster that irrevocably transformed the ecological and social dimensions of life in the Ukrainian and Belarusian regions now known as the “Chornobyl Zone.” Since 1986, the traditional communities of the Chornobyl zone have been largely dispersed and destroyed, and today, very few people remain in the region. Yet, a trace of the human spirit that used to populate this region remains, in the form of archival field recordings that document the ritual and quotidian aspects of daily life before the disaster.
In the 1970s, ethnomusicologist and song collector YevhenYefremov conducted numerous field expeditions into the Chornobyl region. The foremost Ukrainian expert in polyphonic singing styles of Central and Northern Ukraine, Dr. Yefremov will lead New York-based Ensemble Hilka in reinterpreting traditional songs from the Chornobyl region; the ensemble features some of New York City’s leading East European folksingers. A pedagogue and a writer, Dr. Yefremov is also the founder of the important Ukrainian revival choir Drevo (tree).
Curated by Dr. Yefremov and Ukrainian-American ethnomusicologist and singer Maria Sonevytsky, Ensemble Hilka’s four East Coast performances December 1st – 4th will be accompanied by projected archival footage and photographs coordinated by director Virlana Tkacz and Yara Arts Group.
Following the 7PM performance at Princeton University’s Taplin Hall on Thursday, December 1st, Ensemble Hilka presents the Chornobyl Songs Project in New York City at The Ukrainian Museum (222 East 6th Street, between 2nd and 3rd) in Manhattan’s East Village, on Friday, December 2nd, at 7PM. The group performs on Saturday evening, December 3rd, at 8PM in Washington, DC at The Washington Ethical Society Meeting Hall, 7750 16th Street NW. Performers then travel to Philadelphia for a performance sponsored by Cross Roads Music at Calvary Church, at 801 South 48th Street, on Sunday, December 4th, at 7:30PM.
Admission for the New York and Washington concerts is $15, with senior and student discounts available; entrance to the Philadelphia performance is on a sliding scale ($10-$30). The Princeton performance is free. Tickets for the New York performance may be purchased in advance via The Ukrainian Museum’s website, www.ukrainianmuseum.org. For further details visit www.ctmd.org and www.crossroadsconcerts.org.
Ukrainian Village Singing Workshop: Nov 18!
I am so excited to announce that the Yara Arts Group will be hosting an open Ukrainian village singing workshop with Yevhen Yefremov in the East Village on Friday, Nov 18, 6:30-9:30 PM. Prof. Yefremov is in town for the Chornobyl Songs Project, and is *the* foremost expert in the polyphonic singing traditions of the Ukrainian village. He is the founder of Drevo, a professor of ethnomusicology at the Kyiv Academy of Music, and a truly amazing and inspiring vocalist and teacher.
You do not have to be able to read Ukrainian or musical notation to participate, but you must pre-register. The price for the 3-hour workshop is $30.* Call or email Yara to register: (212) 475-6474 / yara.arts.group@gmail.com.
Help Kickstart our new Debutante Hour album!
Hi there,
My band The Debutante Hour is trying to raise funds for our new album through the wonderful grassroots fundraising site Kickstarter. The way it works is that we set a goal ($5,000) and a deadline (November 20) and then we ask everyone we know to consider donating in exchange for exciting prizes that we’ve come up with. If we don’t meet the $5K goal, we get nothing. If we do, your card gets charged on Nov. 20 and we go forward making our second full-length album, “An Awkward Time with The Debutante Hour”
Click here to link to our Kickstarter page. We made a video with previews of a few of the songs.
Networking Frenzy + Fieldwork videos
I’ve gone into a networking frenzy today, and finally signed up for Twitter (see sidebar).
I also set up a Maria Sonevytsky youtube channel, where I’ve posted three short videos from some of my fieldwork in Ukraine in 2008-2009.
What prompted this manic surge of virtual activity? One word: Prezi.
I saw a presentation at the Society for Ethnomusicology conference last November that blew my mind, not necessarily for the ethnomusicology of it (though I recall that it was actually cool), but for the swooping, soaring visual design of the presentation. Definitely not Power Point. I asked the young woman what the program was called – Prezi – and then forgot about it until yesterday.
Yesterday, I sat down to make my dissertation defense presentation – because that is happening on FRIDAY, hip hip! – and attempted to make my power point program swoop into my map of Ukraine. No dice. My brain fog lifted for just long enough that I remembered of a swooping visually-driven presentation program, and I tracked it down on the internet. Prezi. Free for educators! Yes!
And then, excited to make something visually alluring, I started combing through field materials, discovering gems that I haven’t listened to recently. And I made an insane (but visually engaging) Prezi presentation, 10% of which I will actually be able to show on Friday. But never mind! I also edited together a few short videos, now on my youtube channel, and then decided that the most appropriate course of action was to tweet to nobody about that.
The first film I edited together features Mykhailo Nechay, the last Hutsul mol’far (shaman), who was brutally murdered in his home July. (There’s a detailed Ukrainian-language article about the murder here.) I visited him numerous times over the last three years, sometimes bringing my American friends to have their future’s prophesied – he is also one of the main subjects of the first chapter of my dissertation. I was really shocked and disturbed to learn of this tragedy. He was an individual with wide and inclusive beliefs, a practitioner of native and spiritual healing who considered himself both Christian and pagan. I use the language of Ukrainian Christianity to say, Вічная пам’ять.
Debutante Hour: Puppet Playlist and Tinderbox Music Fest!
Back in NYC after what feels like an eternity, and so excited to play a bunch of Debutante Hour shows this week…
First, we’re playing three shows as part of the Simon and/or Garfunkel Puppet Playlist at The Tank (15 W. 28th Street, 3rd floor): Thursday Sept. 8: 7:30pm & 9:30pm; and Friday, Sept. 9: 7:30pm. Tickets: $8 in advance / $10 at the door.
Here’s their blurb:
This month, Puppet Playlist is back in Kodachrome. Join us as we take on Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel. Perhaps just Simon. Just Garfunkel? Simon and/or Garfunkel.
Puppet Playlist takes brilliant puppeteers and talented musicians and slams them together into an evening of live theater to stir the senses. This Playlist will feature original works of puppetry inspired by the songs of Paul Simon and/or Art Garfunkel, mixed with live musical interpretations by some of New York’s most exciting young singer-songwriters.
Featuring Pieces By: Taylor Bibat, Deb Hertzberg, Jonathan Levin, Peter Musante, Cathy McCullough & Jodi Eichelberger, and Eric Wright
With Music By: Franz Nicolay, The Debutante Hour, Anna Leuchtenberger, Noah Bloch-Harley, and more.
*********
THEN, on Saturday, we’re on at 5:30 PM on the Main Stage at the Tinderbox Music Festival, at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. It’s a fest dedicated to emerging female artists, what TimeOut NY calls a “lineup of epic female power,” and the proceeds go the the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls and to Girls Write Now.
These are our only shows in NYC in September, so come out come out!
Sparkplug supports Chornobyl Songs Project!
I just got home last night from the East Coast leg of the Debutante Hour tour to find a letter awaiting me from the Sparkplug Foundation. They’ve decided to award the Chornobyl Project to support the recording of the traditional songs that we’ll be working on and performing with Yevhen Yefremov in November of 2011! Ura, as they say! We’re on our way!
Debutante Hour West Coast tour starts on Friday!
We played a really fun show with Karina Denike, Lily and the Parlour Tricks, and Lily Taylor last night at the Rock Shop. And today and tomorrow, our musical trio flies out to the west coast for seven shows from Seattle down to San Francisco. If you’re in those parts or know someone who is, who might like a little hour of debutante in his or her life, please send them our way:
Fri, July 8th House show on Bainbridge Island, WA hosted by John Eisenhauer. Beautiful location for a house show! RSVP on Facebook.
Sat July 9th in Seattle, WA. We return to the House on Dibble for another show! Contact cyoumany@hotmail.com
for details.
Sun July 10th in Seattle, WA @ The Can Can (corner of First and Pike). With the amazing accordionist Nova Nervosa and Miwa Gemini. $5. Buy tickets here.
Mon July 11th in Cottage Grove, OR @ The Axe&Fiddle with Jason Webley! All ages, $5-10 sliding; 7:30 PM start (we’re on real early and again after Jason).
Tues July 12th in Portland, OR @ Mississippi Pizza with Jenni Alpert. Starts early, at 6 PM – come for dinner!
Thurs July 14th in San Francisco, CA @ Little Minksy’s Burlesque in Haight-Ashbury.
Fri July 15th in San Fran @ Amnesia, 7 PM show with our pals the Corner Laughers. $5.
This week: Majsternia Pisni
Just back from a week in the Carpathians, where I had an opportunity to visit with some of the key figures in my dissertation on the Hutsul side, attended a rainy festival (Polonynske Lito) and finally carpe diemed up to the top of Pop Ivan on possibly the most ideal day of hiking weather this year. Today, Franz and I bade farewell to Alison Cartwright, who is flying home and then making her way to her new Colorado home.
We’ve decided to stay in L’viv this week so that I can attend a four day singing workshop with Natalka Polovynka (of Майстерня Пісні) and see the Yara Arts Group performance of “Raven” that I managed to miss in NYC. Afterwards, we’ll mosey to Simferopol by way of Odesa.
Crimean Tatar musicians & cookies!
First full day in Kyiv was a blast – I got to sing, see old friends, sample various green borschts around town. AND I just got exciting news – a confirmation that five Crimean Tatar traditional musicians and two dancers will be coming up from Crimea to perform at our exhibit opening on June 7th at the Honchar Museum in Kyiv. Apparently, they will also be traveling with many qurabye, those exquisite and crumbly Crimean Tatar cookies! We have been instructed to have tea on hand…
Maria Sonevytsky 