Balkan Festivals Northwest Presents
balkanalia! 2018
Kid's Program
Fiore Grey is a mother of two wonderfully creative children, whom she has homeschooled in the past. A lifelong lover of performance studies, ethnomusicology, and folk art traditions, in 2014 she began singing with Dunava, a Seattle-based women's choir specializing in the folk harmonies of Eastern Europe. The group performs regularly throughout the Northwest, often collaborating with other music and dance ensembles. This fall, Dunava will record their third CD. Fiore enjoys arts, crafts, dance, theatre games, and spending time in nature-activities which she looks forward to sharing with the kids attending Balkanalia! this year.
Benji Rifati
Youth Ensemble
Benjamin Rifati is an American-Rom trumpet player living in Seattle, Washington. Though born and raised in California, Benjamin's Romani family hails from Pristina, Kosovo, and through his familial ties and desire to keep his family's musical roots alive and thriving, has studied with some of the best Romani Musicians Europe has to offer. This list includes Demiran Cerimovic, Dzambo Agusev, and Ali Ibisev. Currently he is a member of two Balkan Ensembles in Seattle: Dromeno and The Minor 9, and he hopes to continue to spread his love for this music and culture.