FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 25, 2001

ACCLAIMED WOMEN'S VOCAL ENSEMBLE KITKA PERFORMS
EASTERN EUROPEAN CHORAL MUSIC FOR THE HOLIDAYS

WINTERSONGS

SAN FRANCISCO, SAN JOSE, OAKLAND AND SAN ANSELMO
DECEMBER 13-16, 2001

(OAKLAND, CA, October 25, 2001) -- The acclaimed Oakland-based women's vocal ensemble Kitka presents a new Wintersongs program of Eastern European music from a variety of ethnic and spiritual traditions for the 2001 holiday season. Following on the heels of last year's overwhelmingly successful first annual holiday concert tour, Kitka premieres new settings of folk songs arranged by ensemble members and brings back several of last year's best-loved pieces. Wintersongs features a wide variety of choral music from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, and beyond, including numerous songs recently rediscovered by Kitka members. Wintersongs will be presented in four Bay Area locations as part of Kitka's 2001-2002 home season.

Performances will be held Thursday, December 13, at 8:30 p.m. at Le Petit Trianon, 72 North 5th St., San Jose; Friday, December 14, at 8:30 p.m. at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, 500 DeHaro St. (at Mariposa), San Francisco; Saturday, December 15, at 8:00 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave. (between Foothill and East 14th Streets), Oakland; and on Sunday, December 16, at 5:00 p.m. at the Stewart Chapel, San Francisco Theological Seminary, Seminary and Kensington Roads, San Anselmo.

NPR PERFORMANCES SLATED

Preceding the Bay Area concerts, Kitka will present Wintersongs on tour in the East Coast, Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Its East Coast appearances include two days of taping at NPR's studios in Washington DC--during which Kitka will record two programs for national rebroadcast. The first program will be aired by Performance Today as part of their seasonal programming. The second program will be a special KITKA Wintersongs Special slated for rebroadcast on the Winter Solstice.

INTIMATE HOMECOMING CONCERTS

"We like creating special, intimate concerts for our Bay Area audiences," Executive Director and vocalist Shira Cion explains. "We place a priority on offering our local concerts in venues with gorgeous acoustics and a feeling of community. Kitka could easily fill larger houses. Last year's Wintersongs concerts all were standing room only. But, we value the close relationship we have with our old and new Bay Area audiences, and we hope to preserve that unique, warm feeling of 'homecoming' after touring around the country. It is our audiences at home who recognize favorite tunes from past years, and whose eyes brighten when we unveil a new piece, or a new arrangement of an old one," Cion adds.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Wintersongs showcases material ranging from rousing Slavic folk carols and lush, meditative Eastern Orthodox sacred choral works, to pre-Christian incantations for the longest nights of the year and medieval Sephardic songs for Chanukah. Additional highlights of the program include an ancient Winter Solstice song to the Goddess of the Sun from Latvia, sung in Latgallian, and a medley of Bulgarian folk carols recalling the nativity sung in the traditional antiphonal diaphonic village style. Other works include a traditional Croatian carol for the New Year, a polyphonic hymn to the Virgin and a robust Alilo (Hallelujah) from 10th century Georgia, a traditional Hungarian carol, a tender Romanian "colinda" (folk carol), and an original choral setting of a popular Hebrew folkdance tune Mana Vu. A return of a carol for Greek St. Basil's Day, arranged for Kitka by Artistic Director Janet Kutulas and Shchedrik, known to Western audiences as the Carol of the Bells, which Kitka will perform in its original Ukrainian language in a setting by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovich, are among the audience favorites from the first Wintersongs program last winter that will receive repeat performances this season.

Kitka engages in a unique process of acquiring new material: each member of the ensemble works closely with native master folk singers and ethnomusicologists, listens to rare archival recordings of traditional Balkan and Slavic singers and choral ensembles, or traces the seasonal musical legacies of her own ethnic heritage. As a result, Kitka has uncovered, researched, and arranged a host of historical seasonal folk music rarely heard by American audiences.

NEW CD SLATED FOR WINTER RELEASE

Committed to expanding its artistic abilities and the range of its work, Kitka will be debuting a new CD this winter. Entitled The Vine, the album, co-produced by Kit Higginson (of the acclaimed medieval group Ensemble Alcatraz) and Grammy-nominee Linda Tillery (leader of the Cultural Heritage Choir) was recorded at Skywalker Studios last spring. Kitka can also be heard on its CDs Nectar (1999 - Diaphonica), hailed by rock superstar David Crosby as "a true masterpiece", Voices on the Eastern Wind (1993 - Diaphonica), on Cantigas de Amigo with the acclaimed early music group Ensemble Alcatraz (2000 - Dorian), and on Say Yo' Business with Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir (2001 - Earthbeat!).

ENSEMBLE BACKGROUND

Dedicated to continually broadening their repertoire while carrying on the traditions of Eastern European women's singing, Wintersongs continues the ensemble's rich 21-year musical heritage. Since its inception, Kitka, which means "bouquet" in Bulgarian and Macedonian, has grown to earn recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts and Chorus America as one of the finest vocal ensembles in the United States. Through field research and performances in Bulgaria, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, as well as in ethnic communities across the U.S., the group has earned a stellar reputation in Eastern Europe. In 1991, members of Kitka were among the first non-indigenous singers invited to perform at the main stage closing ceremonies of the National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore at Koprivshtitsa.. Broadcast twice throughout Europe by Bulgarian National Television, the Koprivshtitsa concert helped secure Kitka's place as the foremost interpreter of Balkan and Slavic choral repertoire working in the United States.

KITKA FEATURED IN FILM AND THEATER

Their numerous collaborations have ranged from a reconstruction of the medieval pageant Carmina Burana to work with award-winning composer Maurice Jarre on the soundtrack for the film Jacob’s Ladder. Additional film credits Braveheart, and At Play in the Fields of the Lord, and most recently, Rasputin and Divided Loyalties. Translating their music to the stage, the group acted the roles of the Greek Chorus in the American Conservatory Theater's 1995 and 1998 productions of Hecuba, sharing top billing with Olympia Dukakis. Their performance earned critical raves on both coasts, as well as a Drama Critics Circle Award nomination. In the words of one critic, "the choice of Kitka as the chorus was inspired . . . gorgeous harmonies, movement and musicality."

MEMBERS OF KITKA

The singers of Kitka are: Leslie Bonnett, Shira Cion, Catherine Rose Crowther, Deborah Dietrich, Juliana Graffagna, Janet Kutulas, Ann Moorhead, Moira Gwendolyn Smiley, and Lily Storm.

TICKETS

Tickets for Kitka's Wintersongs performances range from $16-$20. Tickets are available on-line at http://www.ticketweb.com or by telephone at (866) 468-3399. For more information, call KITKA at (510) 444-0323 or visit http://www.kitka.org.

Wintersongs is supported, in part, with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The City of Oakland Department of Crafts and Cultural Arts, The California Arts Council, The Alameda County Art Commission, The Zellerbach Family Fund and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

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CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE LIST MUSIC: Classical/Choral, World/Folk

Women's Vocal Ensemble KITKA Presents
WINTERSONGS
December 13-16, 2001
Second annual holiday concert featuring seasonal music from a wide variety of Eastern European ethnic and spiritual traditions

Thursday, December 13, 8:30 p.m.
Le Petit Trianon
72 North 5th St.
San Jose, CA

Friday, December 14, 8:30 p.m.
St. Gregory's Episcopal Church
500 DeHaro St. (at Mariposa)
San Francisco, CA

Saturday, December 15, 8:00 p.m.
Lake Merritt United Methodist Church
1330 Lakeshore Ave. (between Foothill and East 14th Streets)
Oakland, CA

Sunday, December 16, 5:00 p.m.
Stewart Chapel
San Francisco Theological Seminary
Seminary and Kensington Roads
San Anselmo, CA

TICKETS: $18 advance / $20 door / $16 seniors & students
RESERVATIONS: www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399
INFORMATION: www.kitka.org or (510) 444-0323

Photo editors:
A wide selection of black and white and color photographs of KITKA are downloadable in high-resolution jpeg format from http://www.kitka.org/press

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