Bulgarian Ensemble Sings like a Nightingale

I spent the evening on Saturday listening to the glorious harmonies of Slaveya, a Washington, DC based ensemble whose name means "nightingale" in Bulgarian. As a former member, I enjoyed singing along under my breath and joining in on the Bulgarian style dancing at the end of the concert. The group has just introduced their first CD recording available now to download or order.

When I sang with the group last, a couple years ago, we wore beautifully handstitched blouses from Romania, but in the past year, the members commissioned these exquisite costumes handmade in Bulgaria. It's a rather small country, but there are many regions with a tremendous variety of costume details. Take a look at the wonderful costumes available from BalkanFolk.

Brazilian Lacemaking

On Sunday I was treated to the sight of a highly skilled Brazilian lacemaker in action at the Brazil Day festival in Frederick, MD. She was working with a large tufted pillow with a leather pattern pinned to it and with incredible speed, shuffled handfuls of unmarked bobbins back and forth to create the beautiful lacy patterns. If I had been carrying more cash with me, I would have brought home something. I was there to perform with my new Brazilian percussion band, Batala.