The Balkan Brass band Orkestar Slivovica is an 8–12 piece ensemble that brings to Vancouver a colourful conflation of Eastern European musical traditions. On May 8–9 they will host and perform at the Ederlezi Balkan Brass Festival, which will feature several Balkan bands and other festivities.
The event will feature three bands from Seattle, three local folk dance groups, and two Balkan musical ensembles outside of the brass tradition. In addition to music, there will be folk dance music workshops both evenings and daytime workshops for singing, drumming and brass on May 9.
A unique sound
Founding member Oliver Schneider started Orkestar Slivovica after becoming enamoured with the Eastern European musical landscape.
“I happened across a tune by Boban Markovic, perhaps the most famous and one of the best performers of [Balkan brass], on a university radio station while I was at work,” says Scheneider.
He was so intrigued he soon booked a ticket to Serbia to attend the Guca Festival, a competition featuring dozens of bands, to hear the music in-person.
“I got to see the whole spectrum of amazingly proficient bands down to ad-hoc busking bands, and also met a number of musicians and even complete bands from France and Italy and other places who play the genre,” he says.
The genre is born of various cultural roots – a musical mosaic depicting South-Eastern Europe’s cultural legacy.
“Balkan Brass, as we call it in the West, is actually quite varied, with distinctly different traditions in various regions of South-Eastern Europe. [We] specialize in the tradition from South Serbia and North-Eastern Macedonia, where it is known as ‘Trubachi’,” Schneider explains
Woven from various musical influences, Orkestar Slivovica’s unique sound is defined by exotic flourishes and robust performances.
The sound is a combination of Ottoman rhythms and scales, local folk tunes and Romani stylizations such as incredibly fast runs and complex and fluid ornamentation.
“It bears a fleeting resemblance to klezmer or some Latin music such as mariachi, but it is really quite unique,” Schneider says.
Orkestra Silvovica, a Balkan brass ensemble.| Photo courtesy of Orkestra Silvovica
A brief history of the festival
Orkestar Silvitica first conceived of the Ederlezi Balkan Brass Festival to build a community of music-lovers, and quickly found success.
For the festival’s original edition in 2010, the band rented a hall and invited Orkestar Zirkonium, a Seattle-based band, and other local projects to perform with them.
“When we had over 100 people lined up down the street that we couldn’t let in, we knew we were onto something!” Schneider recalls.
The festival, which emulates Serbia’s Guca Festival, is also an opportunity for Schneider to bring his musical experiences abroad close to home.
“Since [2010] it has been a 2 day event and a bit of a mini-Guca Festival, though without the competition factor,” he says.
In recent years, the band’s desire for musical development has become the main impetus behind the festival, although a strong sense of community and festivity prevails.
Each year, the band invites acclaimed trumpeter Demiran Ćerimović to headline the festival and spends April furiously rehearsing to prepare to play
with him.
“This has now become the main motivation behind the festival, though of course we still value community building with our sister bands and throwing a great party for our many fans,” says Schneider.
Ederlezi Balkan Brass Festival
May 8–9
Grandview Legion, 2205 Commercial Drive, Vancouver.
Tickets: caravanbc.com
There will also be a movie night at the Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway, on May 3 at 6:00 p.m., with a preview performance by Orkestar Slivovica and Demiran Ćerimović. Tickets at the door.
