News

I will be making my first trip back to Macedonia in 30 years during the month of July. Much has changed on both sides of the ocean since then, including the creation of Izvor Music. I hope to be bringing Željo his CD, and will be spending time at Goran's music and dance workshop. I also hope to hike in the mountains, and am sure to enjoy good times with friends.

Due to this vacation, Izvor Music will not be able to process any orders until August 9th. Thank you for your support.

Izvor Music is proud to announce the release of the first CD recording of Željo Destanovski, former lead zurla player for Tanec. The intense music of two zurlas and tapan spans 16 tracks of authentic village music from the region of Maleševo never previously recorded. This historic recording (available in August 2009) is made possible by the generosity of Goran Alachki, who compiled the selections in his Skopje studio.

Dragi Spasovski will take his first North American tour starting at the end of this month, organized by The Mehanatones. The Mehanatones perform urban and village dance music from the Balkans and Anatolia. Like the working čalgija orchestras of the last century, they perform a wide variety of dance tunes from the many ethnic groups living throughout these regions. For this tour, their repertoire will include village music from Macedonia performed on gajda, kaval, tambura, and tupan, and more modern music performed on accordion, trumpet, and electric guitar.

Dragi's tour will take him to northern and southern California on two weekends, in venues including house concernts, clubs, and dances. For some of the performances, The Mehanatones and Dragi will be joined by David Bilides. Lessons and workshops with Dragi and any of the instrumentalists can be pre-arranged by contacting Bill Cope in northern California and Pat MacSwyney in southern California.

The Mehanatones are:

Bill Cope—oud, gajda, tambura, bouzouki, accordion
Pat MacSwyney—ney, kaval, frula, trumpet, baglama
Brian Fox—tambura, electric bartione guitar
Dan Auvil—tapan, darabuka, dajre

Friday, February 27
Dance Party
Croatian-American Cultural Center (formerly The Slavonic Center)
60 Onondaga Ave
San Francicso, CA 94112
8:00 pm
$15

Saturday, February 28
Dance Party
Ashkenaz
1317 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702
8:00 pm
$15

Friday, March 13
House Concert and Dance
1836 Nipomo Ave
Long Beach, CA 90815
8:00pm
$10
For more info, contact Pat MacSwyney.

Saturday, March 14
Dance Party
Folk Dance Center (at Dancing Unlimited)
4569 30th St
San Diego, CA 92116
8:00 pm
$10
For more info, contact Pat MacSwyney.

Sunday, March 15
Dance Party
Laguna Folkdancers (at Laguna Woods Clubhouse 1)
24232 Calle Aragon
Laguna Woods, CA 92637
7:00 pm
$12

After much too long an absence, the Green Lake Folkdancers in Seattle are pleased to host the return of Iliana Božanova for 4 weekend dance workshops on January 30-31. In addition, the wonderful young accordionist Vladimir (Vlado) Mollov will provide live music to accompany Iliana's teaching during her Saturday sessions. Vlado will then be joined by David Bilides on tupan for a Saturday night party.

As an added special treat, the great Bulgarian duo of Ivan Milev (legendary accordionist) and Enčo Todorov (violin) will also join the Saturday night party for the second half of the evening. This will be a party not to be missed with very high energy music for dancing that will keep your feet moving until either the musicians stop or there are no more dancers with anything left in them to keep on going! This super weekend will be held at the Green Lake VFW Hall located at 7220 Woodlawn Avenue NE.

For more info contact Steve Bard:
425-883-0332

We just received word that the young multi-instrumentalist Bajsa Arifovska from Skopje will be joining Goran and Adrijana Alachki and Dragi Spasovski for their Café Paloma and Bellingham events on January 9th and 10th (see below). This is a wonderful opportunity to hear a talented Macedonian musician from the next generation together with the Alachkis and Dragi.

In addition to being present at the Paloma and in Bellingham, Bajsa, an excellent teacher from all reports, will be available for private lessons on violin, clarinet, tambura, kaval, and percussion. You can use the contact form to arrange your lesson.

Don't  miss this chance to see this young performer!

Goran and Adrijana Alachki return to the Pacific Northwest for a week of parties, shows, lessons and workshops. Goran is considered a national treasure in Macedonia and plays accordion, and Adrijana has won numerous vocal awards and teaches dance as well. It's been over a year since their last visit, to celebrate the release of Dragi's 3-CD set. Goran arranged and played on the first CD, Voice of my Soul. Check the schedule below to see when and where you can catch them. They are wonderful to see and listen to, and you won't want to miss them this time around.

We are also pleased to let you know that we have a limited number of Goran and Adrijana's CDs available for you to order. You can find information and sound clips via the CD page.

Friday, January 9 (one show only)
Dinner show: “Voice of My Soul”
Café Paloma
93 Yesler Way (at 1st)
Seattle, WA

7:30 pm
Price: $10 cover + cost of fabulous dinner and drink from the Café Paloma menu
Reservations necessary: (206) 405-1920 [this show sold out twice last year, even without Bajsa!]
Co-sponsored by New Land Productions.

Saturday, January 10
Bellingham Macedonian Dance Workshop and Party
Adrijana will teach several Macedonian dances in the afternoon, followed by a dance party in the evening. Contact Denise for more information on times, locations, and directions.
Co-sponsored by Bellingham Folk Dancers and New Land Productions.

Tuesday and Wednesday, January 13, 14
Workshops and parties to celebrate the new year in Portland. Contact Theresa for more information on locations, directions and times.

Tuesday, January 13
It's a Beautiful Pizza
3342 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR 97214

8:45pm - 11:30 pm (doors open at 8:15)
$5 cover
(503) 233-5444 for more information
Co-sponsored by balkanalia! and New Land Productions.

Friday, January 16
Dance Workshop and Party
VFW Hall
7220 Woodlawn Ave NE
Seattle, WA

8:00 - 11:30 pm
Price: $20
Sponsored by Green Lake Folk Dancers, Izvor Music and New Land Music Productions
Adrijana will teach several Macedonian dances, followed by a dance party. More information is available.

Three weeks wasn't nearly enough. Stefče Stojkovski together with Dragi Spasovski wowed Macedonian music enthusiasts in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C. Stefče played many instruments and sang harmony on some songs with Dragi. In Vancouver, he joined in with a local Serbian band near the end of the evening. Workshops and lessons were held in Portland and Seattle in addition to dance parties and dinner shows. We look forward to many return visits! Some pictures from the Café and VFW Seattle evenings are now up on this site.

We are also pleased to let you know that we have a very limited number of Stefče's CDs available for you to order. You can find information and sound clips via the CD page.

We now have 3 performances confirmed, each with Dragi Spasovski (vocals), David Bilides (kaval, tambura), and Tom Deering (tapan) together with Stefče. From boisterous dance parties in two countries, to an intimate café dinner show, you can sample much of the wide range of Stefče’s repertoire. Stefče is featured on Dragi’s second CD, Echo of My Soul.

Saturday, November 8
50th Anniversary Dance Party of the Vancouver International Dancers
Featured music will be by: Orkestar RTW with Musiki Parea & Stari Zvuci

St. Sava Orthodox Church
505 East 63rd Avenue
Vancouver BC

Price: $30 (traditional dinner included)
Doors & bar open 6 pm
Dinner 7 pm
Music and Dancing from 8:30 pm to 1:00 am

For tickets: Davor/Radica at 604.266.6576 or Susan at 604.732.9652

Tuesday, November 11
Evening of Macedonian Music
It's a Beautiful Pizza
3342 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR

8:30 pm - ?
Sponsored by Balkan Festivals Northwest
For info: Dennis Godfrey

Friday, November 14
Dance Party
VFW Hall
7220 Woodlawn Ave NE
Seattle, WA

8:30 - 11:30 pm
Price: $20
Sponsored by Green Lake Folk Dancers, Izvor Music and New Land Music Productions
More information is available.

Saturday, November 15
Dinner show: “Echo of My Soul”
Café Paloma
93 Yesler Way (at 1st)
Seattle, WA

7:30 pm
Price: $10 cover + cost of fabulous dinner and drink from the Café Paloma menu
Reservations necessary: (206) 405-1920

Izvor Music is proud to sponsor multi-instrumentalist Stefče Stojkovski's first vist to the United States, from November 1 to November 21. Flying in direct from Skopje, he will be based here in Seattle. He is available for lessons, workshops, and parties. Please use the contact form to let us know. Details of upcoming performances will be posted shortly.

Goran runs a yearly 2-week seminar in Macedonian dance and music in Macedonia. Next year's "Macedonian Pearl" seminar will take place in Berovo, from July 5 to 16, 2009. See his web site for more details.

We've been working steadily on the podcasts for Dragi's CDs, incorporating musical and text information not found in the accompanying book. It's been very interesting for me as the interviewer; Dragi knows a tremendous amount and has met many of the luminaries of Macedonian folk song. Other people are tuning in to the shows, as we've gotten feedback from Toronto, St. Louis, Denver, Boston, Montréal and other cities. The podcast pages on this web site also include musical material not found in their entirety on the shows. You can download from this site, or subscribe. We've a long way to go, but the ride so far has been terrific!

Izvor Music has published Mastering Thracian Kaval Ornamentation: A Handbook, by kaval master Lyuben Dossev. This 193-page book unveils the mysteries of ornamentation of the Bulgarian wooden end-blown shepherd’s flute, the kaval. It contains over 200 diagrams of musical examples played by Professor Dossev found on an accompanying CD. There is also a collection of songs with notated kaval accompaniment. More details and ordering information can be found on its book page.

Izvor Music has published Macedonian Folk Songs from the Repertoire of Dragi Spasovski Volume 1, by David Bilides, Dragi Spasovski, and Rachel MacFarlane. This 168-page book, a complement to Dragi's three new CDs, contains complete lyrics and translations to all 54 Macedonian folk songs found on the CDs. It also includes transcribed notations of all the vocals (with ornaments), plus all of the tambura and accordion interludes (with ornaments), notes on the songs, a map, a glossary, tablature, a pronunciation guide, and a special guest review of this project by Goran Alachki. We've already received many glowing comments. More information is available on its book page.

After an energetic party with the Greenlake folk dancers, Goran Alachki and Adrijana Alachka joined Dragi Spasovski for two sold out nights at Seattle's Café Paloma to celebrate the release of his 3 CDs. The intimate atmosphere created a very different ambience from the dance party, and people who attended both were able to enjoy the wide range of moods and songs Macedonian folk music can provide. We had attendees from Victoria and Vancouver, Canada, as well as more local fans. This was the first time these three Radio Skopje artists had performed together, and they had a marvelous time. Adrijana walked off the stage among the diners and serenaded them one minute, while getting them out of their seats and dancing the next. Goran played some of his own compositions to an attentive audience. Dragi was very moved by both the lyrics of the songs he chose, the occasion itself, and honored guests such as Atanas Kolarovski. There were also exhilarating times with Adrijana and Dragi harmonizing over Goran's sensitive accompaniments. Some pictures from the Café evenings are up on this site.

Izvor Music is proud to announce the release of 3 CDs by Radio Skopje singer Dragi Spasovski. Each CD is beautifully packaged and features 70 minutes of traditional Macedonian folksongs. Dragi is accompanied by the Goran Alachki Orchestra, the Stefče Stojkovski Ensemble, and David Bilides. Listeners have written us with wonderful comments. More details and ordering information can be found on the CD page.

This 150-page book comes with 2 CDs of the original music of the 35 transcribed songs. All songs are notated with complete lyrics in two languages and transliterated. The Volume 2 page gives all the details, including a link to many of the many positive comments we’ve received about this and the first volume.