Harris Center to Present DakhaBrakha From The Ukraine

The Harris Center is proud to present a fascinating trip to the Ukraine, one like no other. Created in 2004 by the avant-garde theatre director Vladyslav Troitskyi, DakhaBrakha - three women and a man - weave ancient Ukrainian folk melodies with world rhythms and a range of traditional instrumentation that is Indian, Arabic, African, Russian and Australian in origin. Dubbed an "ethno-chaos" band, the bright, unique and unforgettable sound of DakhaBrakha rests on the quartet's astonishingly powerful vocal range, while their roots in theater are never far away - their shows are always staged with a strong visual element.

Named the "Best Breakout" band at Bonnaroo by Rolling Stone, "the group mixes everything from punk-pop to traditional Ukrainian songs in cool yet beguiling textures, often with the close harmonies usually associated with Balkan music. But it's really the live shows that take DakhaBrakha beyond mere curiosity to utter brilliance" (National Public Radio).

DakhaBrakha comes to Stage One on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $18-$32; Premium $38. Students with ID $12. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 12 noon to 6 pm, Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. The Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

DakhaBrakha is world music quartet from Kiev, Ukraine. Reflecting fundamental elements of sound and soul, they create a world of unexpected new music - their name means "give/take" in the old Ukrainian language. Accompanied by Indian, Arabic, African, Russian and Australian traditional instrumentation, the quartet's astonishingly powerful and uncompromising vocal range creates a trans-national sound rooted in Ukrainian culture.

After experimenting with Ukrainian folk music, the band has added rhythms of the surrounding world into their music, thus creating their bright, unique and unforgettable sound. They strive to help open up the potential of Ukrainian melodies and to bring it to the hearts and consciousness of the younger generation in Ukraine and the rest of the world as well.

At the crossroads of Ukrainian folklore and theatre, their musical spectrum is at first intimate then riotous, plumbing the depths of contemporary roots and rhythms, inspiring "cultural and artistic liberation."

"Ukrainian folkdrone Björkpunk quartet Dakhabrakha went into Bonnaroo as unknowns but ended up with one of the most receptive crowds of the weekend. They got cheers for mournful accordion and apocalyptic cello sawing. Animal noises and bird whistles and howls got the audience to return the favor, turning the tent into a happy menagerie" (Rolling Stone).

DakhaBrakha includes 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).

Marko is the only representative of the countryside in the band. He was born in the village of Krushenivka, in the Vinnitskiy region, into a family of village intellectuals. He became an actor of the Centre of Contemporary Art "DAKH" and then accidentally found himself working with the band. Marko is fond of design - he creates the visual images of DakhaBrakha. Ira has played Ukrainian ethnic music since her early childhood. Moreover, she has graduated from the faculty of folklore. Ira is responsible for the "brass section" of the group, as she easily gets the feel of different musical instruments. She also performs at the "Dakh" theatre as an actress. Lena is one of the specialists at the folklore department at the National University of Ukraine. When she has some time off, she works on preparing her Candidate's dissertation about traditional Ukrainian wedding songs. na professionally studied folklore and is a self-taught cellist. She is the most artistically open-minded member of the band and is always up for collaborating with other musicians.

From Rockpaperscissors:

"The three female vocalists have spent many summers traveling around Ukraine's villages collecting songs and learning from elder women in remote areas. Like these village tradition-bearers, they have spent years singing together, a fact that resonates in the beautifully close, effortlessly blended sound of their voices. Marko grew up steeped in village life, and draws on his rural upbringing when contributing to the group... Through this experimentation and repurposing of instruments from other cultures to serve DakhaBrakha's own sound, the band was guided by the restraint, the elemental approach that owed a debt to the emotionally charged minimalism of Phillip Glass and Steve Reich. 'At the same time as we explored ethnic music, we got interested in minimalism, though never in a way that was literal or obvious,' Halanevych explains. 'The methods of minimalism seemed to us to be very productive in our approach to folk. The atmospheric and dramatic pieces that started our work together were created by following that method.' "

Great Shows. Up Close. In Folsom!

The Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College brings the community together to share in cultural experiences featuring the work of artists from throughout the region and around the world. Built and operated by the Los Rios Community College District, the $50 million, state-of-the-art regional performing arts center boasts three intimate venues with outstanding acoustics, an art gallery, a recording studio, elegant teaching spaces, plenty of safe parking and all the other amenities of a world-class performing arts venue. Each year the Center hosts over 400 events attracting more than 150,000 annually.

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