Michael Ginsburg

Balkan Dance

Michael has been director and lead trumpet player of Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band since 1983. He accompanied ZU to brass festivals in Guča, Serbia, three times between 1987 and 1990, as well as in 2003 and 2005, where he and ZU were able to play and party with local brass bands and experience the music in its natural setting. Michael and Zlatne Uste worked with Ekrem Sajdić and Zlatni Prsti brass band in 2003, and in 2005 with Vranjski Biseri, both in Vranjska Banja, Serbia. Michael performed in the summer of 2010 with Zlatne Uste at the first competition of international bands at the Sabor Trubača in Guča, Serbia, representing the United States.

For many years, Michael has been interested in Balkan music and dances, especially Macedonian and Serbian. He is an expert in the complicated rhythms of Balkan music and has made several research trips to Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, and studied in North Macedonia with Pece Atanasovski. Michael has been on the teaching staff of the Macedonian Pearl seminar in Berovo, North Macedonia. Michael has been a frequent staff member of the EEFC Balkan Music & Dance Workshops on both coasts. He has given workshops in Balkan dance throughout North America, as well as in Brazil, Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He has also been on the staff of many prominent folk dance camps and seminars in the US. Michael lives in Yonkers, NY.

Website: Zlatne Uste

VIDEO: Michael leading the brass ensemble at the Iroquois Springs Balkan Music & Dance Workshop