Schimmel Center at Pace University concludes its Series of World Music & Dance and 2018-2019 Season with contemporary Ukranian folk quartet DakhaBrakha on Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at SchimmelCenter.org, by phone at 212-346-1715, or by visiting the Schimmel Center Box Office at 3 Spruce Street, Manhattan. Box office hours are Tuesday-Saturday, Noon-5pm, and three hours prior to each performance, through intermission.
"The group mixes everything from punk-pop to traditional Ukrainian songs in cool yet beguiling textures." - NPR
DakhaBrakha was created in 2004 at the Kyiv Center of Contemporary Art "DAKH" by the avant-garde theatre director Vladyslav Troitskyi. Translating to "give/take" in old Ukrainian, the quartet embraces the roots of Ukrainian folk music, incorporating Indian, Arabic, African, Russian and Australian traditional instrumentation to create a unique world music sound.
With the recent political and social unrest in Ukraine, the group has taken on a mantle as cultural ambassadors, celebrating national pride in uncertain times through the universal power of music. Driven by drums, cello and astonishingly powerful vocals, "the songs are steeped in Ukrainian folk tradition but not bounded by it; they deploy the piercing vocal harmonies of Balkan music, the drones and systematic unfolding of Minimalism and the drive of African and dance music" (The New York Times).
DakhaBrakha is comprised of musicians Marko Halanevych (vocals, darbuka, tabla, accordion), Iryna Kovalenko (vocals, djembe, bass drums, accordion, percussion, bugay, zgaleyka, piano), Olena Tsybulska (vocals, bass drums, percussion, garmoshka), and Nina Garenetska (vocals, cello, bass drum). They have released several albums, including Light (2010) and ???? / The Road (2016), and they were the winner of the prestigious Sergey Kuryokhin Prize in 2009. https://www.dakhabrakha.com.ua/en/
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