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Accompanist biographies, Wintersongs tour
RUMEN “SALI” SHOPOV tambura, bouzouki, tupan
Rumen "Sali" Shopov hails from the Turkish Romani (“Gypsy”) mahala (neighborhood) of Gotse Delchev, a crossroads town in Southwest Bulgaria’s Pirin Mountain range, neighboring the borders of Greece and Macedonia. He began his musical career at the age of ten when he joined his uncle's wedding band as a dumbek (goblet-shaped hand drum) and tupan (double-headed bass drum) player. Soon thereafter, he discovered his true passion, the tambura, a Bulgarian folk lute. He quickly mastered tambura technique and learned a vast repertoire of folk and popular songs at an astonishing pace. When he was only thirteen, he won an audition to join the Nevrokopski Ensemble, Bulgaria’s first professional national folk ensemble, founded in 1946. At the age of 18 Rumen became the Nevrokopski Ensemble’s concertmaster and toured as an ambassador of Bulgarian culture with the group throughout Eastern and Western Europe, the Near East, and Canada for more than 20 years. Simultaneously, Rumen was also a lead member of several of the Pirin region’s hottest bands Biljana, Shturo Make and Orkestar Orbita, and an accompanist to a long list of Bulgaria’s most popular folk singers. In the fall of 2002, Rumen toured across America with the Kolevera Folk Ensemble. Rumen currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has assembled Orkestar Sali, a band that captures and showcases the sparkling fretwork, incendiary rhythms, and expressive soul of his native Turkish-Romani ("Gypsy")/Bulgarian musical tradition.
TOBIAS ROBERSON dumbek, tupan, and frame drums
Tobias Roberson began his percussion training at 14 with the University of California Santa Barbara Middle Eastern Ensemble. There he quickly learned the classical forms of Egyptian music and was soon introduced to Souhail Kaspar who would become his teacher for the next several years. Work with gajda (bagpipe) player Hector Bezanis introduced him to the music of northern Greece and the quick odd-time signatures of the Balkans and Turkey. Tobias was soon became an instructor at the annual East European Folklife Center’s Balkan Music and Dance Workshops in Mendocino, CA, where he has taught for the last 5 years. After spending two months studying in Cairo, Tobias relocated to San Francisco. Tobias has collaborated with many Near Eastern dance troupes including Fat Chance Belly Dance, Hahbi’Ru, Suhaila Salimpour Dance Company, Ultra Gypsy, Aywah!, Tabu, Zambra and soloist Rachel Brice. He also performs Balkan music with The Toids, Stellamara, and Orkestar Sali. His teaches hand percussion classes at his studio in Oakland and offers workshops nationally. In his free time he directs Riqq Shah, a five piece percussion ensemble. For more information visit www.riqq.com.
KAILA FLEXER, violin
Great-granddaughter of Polish klezmer musicians, violinist Kaila Flexer has been recording, performing and producing events in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 20 years. As a composer and bandleader, she has been at the helm of new folk music ensembles Kaila Flexer's Fieldharmonik, Next Village and Third Ear. As a producer, she is best-known for her annual Klezmer Mania! extravaganzas, a Bay Area Jewish music festival for over 10 years (1989-2002). In addition, Flexer has performed with such diverse musical ensembles as Club Foot Orchestra; Cuban band, Tumbao y Cuerdas; The Bay Area Jazz Composer's Orchestra; and Klezmer bands Hotzeplotz and the Klezmer Maniax. She has toured Germany with violinist Hollis Taylor, recorded with Laurie Lewis and produced sound tracks to several documentaries.
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Accompanist biographies, Wintersongs tour
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