Samavesha presents Novilunio a new musical project by Laura Inserra & Elizabeth Setzer with Evan Fraser (multi-instrumentalist), Briget Boyle, Janet Kutulas and Caitlin Tabancay Austin (from Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble) Friday, November 11, 2011 7:30pm Italian Cultural Institute 814 Montgomery Street, San Francisco www.novilunio.org Laura Inserra is a vibrant and talented composer, multi-instrumentalist, teacher and artistic director. She is a classically trained musician with a strong improvisational background who utilizes multiple musical and performance skills. A native of Sicily, her work in Italy is well- known, including integral participation in the composition of numerous movie scores and the artistic direction of innovative live productions. In 2007, Inserra founded SAMAVESHA, an international non-profit multidisciplinary performing art organization. Audiences worldwide are mesmerized by her musical virtuosity and captivated by the passion she brings to the stage. Elizabeth Setzer is an American musician, she received the BA in music at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Elizabeth studied Bulgarian folk singing with Svetla Stanilova at the Academy of Music in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on a Fulbright grant for one year. During this time she performed with the Phillipopoly Folk Ensemble, and studied the tambura with Vladimir Vladimirov. In January 2009 she began to sing with KITKA Women's Vocal Ensemble in Oakland, California, and now she is the group's Music Director. Evan Fraser is a multi-instrumentalist, performer and recording artist currently based in the Bay Area. Evan graduated from CalArts in LA with a BFA degree in World Music. His teachers include: John Bergamo, Randy Gloss, Alfred & Kobla Ladzekpo, Sulley Imoro, Nyomen Wenton, Jim Santi Owen, Mark Growden, Hamsa Lila, Mamadou Sidibe & Yakouba Diarra. Some of the instruments Evan plays are: electric kalimba, mbira, marimbula (bass kalimba), kalimbas in different keys, jaw harp, (jew's harp, mouth harp) in all keys from many different countries, frame drums, berimbau, pandeiro, dumbek, zabumba (bass drum), calabash, caxixi, clave, guiro, bells, quarkeba (metal castentets), tamborine, bottles, overtone flute, ney, spoons, bones, & shakers (so many kinds!). Kamale Ngoni (an african harp similar to a kora) in several keys, lap steel slide guitar, electric lap steel, dan bau, cigar box slide guitar, & resophonic slide dobro, harmonica in several keys, and anything else he can get his hands on! Prior to joining Kitka in 2004, Briget Boyle attended the College of Santa Fe as a Music Performance and Composition major. Currently she performs with Kitka, the award-winning Balkan brass band Brass Menažeri, and True Life Trio. In 2006 and 2007, she was the Assistant Director of the Jewish Music Festival in Berkeley and is now working as Kitka's Ensemble Manager. Janet Kutulas had a former career as a freelance flutist in the San Francisco and Chicago areas, playing in the EARPLAY New Music Ensemble, California Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, SF Symphony's New and Unusual Music Series, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Illinois Philharmonic, and other groups. She has been a Kitka singer since 1988, and was a music director of the group from 1997 - 2010. An alumnus of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Caitlin Tabancay Austin graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Music History and a minor in Linguistics. She also had the privilege of studying with Tzvetanka Varimezova, director of the University's Bulgarian choir. This is her third year singing with Kitka.

Be the first to comment