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Spring 2014
From the Editor

Welcome to the New Online Kef Times!

This new format for the EEFC’s newsletter is the culmination of bright ideas and diligent work from many collaborators over the last few months. We hope you will enjoy it and be inspired to contribute articles and photos for future issues. Continue Reading

Scholarship Recipients

Mendocino 2013: Lizzy Pederson

By Lizzy Pederson, Spring 2014
Lizzy Pederson

Lizzy Pederson

Location: Half the time Woodinville, Wash.; the other half Boulder, Colo.

Occupation: I’m a music student at University of Colorado - Boulder currently, though I do professional music gigs when I can get them.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: When the stars align, I have been lucky enough to get to play with Kafana Republik and sometimes with Radost. I also dance with the Seattle Balkan Dancers for fun and a performing group in Boulder called Hora Romaneasca.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my first time!

Experience at camp: I knew that Mendocino Balkan camp was going to be a great experience, and I hoped I would come back with at least a few new songs under my belt. What I really learned was so much more valuable. Playing and singing together with the faculty, including Baže (Blagoja Smilevski) and Sali (Rumen Shopov) after the kafana closed was my favorite experience of the whole week. Those renditions had soul, and it was so much fun to hear those songs from the source. So much meaning, so much expertise. Definitely impressive! I was surprised that they could sing that passionately after a long day of playing! I would come back to Mendocino just to experience this again.

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