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.