2026 Teachers

Staff listings are subject to update and change.

Dance

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...Read More

Joe Kaloyanides Graziosi

Greek Dance

Joseph Kaloyanides Graziosi was born and raised in the greater Boston area. Of Greek and Italian ancestry, Joe was exposed at an early age to Greek music and dance through both family contacts...Read More

Konstantin Marinov

Bulgarian Dance

Konstantin "Kotse" Marinov is from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. From the age of 5 he performed with the Children's and Youth Ensemble "Zagorche." Kotse was born into a dancing family: he and his...Read More

Instruments & Ensembles

Peter "Usmivkata" Aleksiev

Thracian Gajda; Rhodope Gajda

Peter "Usmivkata" (The Smile) Aleksiev was born in Varna, Bulgaria. He graduated from "Philip Kutev" Music School in Kotel, then from Plovdiv's Academy for Music and Dance Arts. He was part of the...Read More

Zoë Aqua

Transylvanian Violin; Trans-Carpathian Ensemble

Zoë Aqua was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She played Suzuki violin while her dad led songs at their local synagogue and played klezmer music on the weekends. After college, Zoë lived in...Read More

Paul Brown

House Bassist (non-teaching)

Paul Brown has been playing music for 44 years, studying bass and improvisation at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and oud and makam with Haig Manoukian and Necati Çelik. Comfortable in...Read More

Beth Bahia Cohen

Greek Ensemble; Makam Theory

Beth Bahia Cohen has spent a large part of her career exploring how the violin is played in various cultures. Of Syrian Jewish and Russian Jewish heritage, she was inspired at a young age by the...Read More

Polly Tapia Ferber

Doumbek; Frame Drum

Percussionist Polly Tapia Ferber is a music educator, performer, and recording artist who specializes in hand percussion from the Middle East, Turkey, North Africa, the Balkans, and Spanish...Read More

Valeri Georgiev

Bulgarian Kaval

Valeri Georgiev is from the Bulgarian Danube town of Ruse. He studied kaval in Kotel with Stoyan Chobanov and Georgi Penev, and graduated from the Plovdiv Academy of Arts with a BA degree in...Read More

Adam Good

Macedonian Tambura

Adam Good is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and composer working with contemporary modal music in the traditional styles of Turkey, Greece and Eastern Europe. His musicianship on guitar,...Read More

Nikolay Kolev

Gadulka; Bitov (Bulgarian Village) Ensemble

Nikolay Kolev, a native of the Thracian Rose Valley village of Karavelovo, has been playing gadulka since age 10. After graduating from the National School of Folk Arts in Shiroka Lŭka, Bulgaria,...Read More

Stoyan Kostov

Bulgarian Tambura

Stoyan Kostov has been playing Bulgarian tambura for over 50 years. He graduated from the folk music school in Kotel and the Plovdiv Academy of Music and Dance. Stoyan performed with Ensemble...Read More

Izaki Metropoulos

Rebetika Ensemble; Greek Violin

Izaki Metropoulos is a Greek traditional violinist, vocalist, and educator with two decades of experience devoted to the study and performance of both urban and rural Greek folk music. His work...Read More

Hristo Mollov

Bulgarian Clarinet

Hristo Mollov was born in Bulgaria to a well-known family of self-taught musicians. From a very young age he was interested in the clarinet, inspired by his uncle, who was a clarinetist. At the...Read More

Vladimir Mollov

Bulgarian Accordion

Born in Bulgaria to a family of self‐taught wedding musicians, Vladimir was inspired by the sounds of the accordion from early childhood. At eighteen months old, he “played” his little...Read More

Matt Moran

Tapan/Daouli

Matt Moran has played tapan (aka goč, bubanj, tŭpan, daouli, or davul) since way before you could find videos of Balkan music online. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he leads Slavic Soul Party!...Read More

Benji Rifati

Brass Melody; Brass Band Ensemble

Benji Rifati is an American-Rom who has spent years studying trumpet from Romani masters of Eastern Europe. Immersed in Balkan music since he was a toddler, Benji was first inspired to play by the...Read More

John "Yianni" Roussos

Santouri

John "Yianni" Roussos has performed on the santouri in the northeastern U.S. since 1972. He played for many years with the Pericles Halkias Family Orchestra in New York City and lately with...Read More

Demetri Tashie

Beginner Ensemble

Demetri Tashie is a longtime Greek dancer and musician. He created the band program for the Hellenic Classical Charter School, a National Blue Ribbon School in Park Slope, Brooklyn. There he...Read More

Kristina Vaškys

Macedonian Village Ensemble

Kristina Vaškys is a music educator, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and dancer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her love of Balkan music and dance began when she performed with the Duquesne University...Read More

Singing

Lauren Brody

Songs of Strandzha & Velingrad; Balkan Song Survey

Lauren Brody is an accordionist, singer, researcher, professional piano tuner/technician and Fulbright scholar from New York City. She is a pioneer of the klezmer music revival in the United...Read More

Donka Koleva

Bulgarian Singing

Donka Koleva is a vocalist prized for her rich, clear and melodic voice. A graduate of the Folklore High School in Shiroka Luka, she worked as a soloist with the Sliven Ensemble for three years....Read More

Carol Silverman

Romani Singing Int/Adv

Carol Silverman has been involved with Balkan and Romani music and culture for over thirty years as a researcher, teacher, performer and educational activist. An award-winning professor of...Read More

Michele Simon

Balkan Vocal Technique 101; Balkan Vocal Technique Master Class

Michele Simon has been involved with music all of her life, and with Balkan folk music for most of it, as a dancer, singer, drummer and teacher. She was raised surrounded by music of all kinds,...Read More

Kristina Vaškys

North Macedonian Singing

Kristina Vaškys is a music educator, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and dancer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her love of Balkan music and dance began when she performed with the Duquesne University...Read More

Culture

Carol Silverman

Balkan Music, Dance, & Culture Through the Lens of Gender

Carol Silverman has been involved with Balkan and Romani music and culture for over thirty years as a researcher, teacher, performer and educational activist. An award-winning professor of...Read More

For the Kids

Jaquetta Bustion

Children's Activities

A pianist since childhood, Jaquetta Bustion is a multi-instrumentalist and performs as a singer with Accord Treble Choir. A music...Read More

Sarah Ferholt

Kids'/Youth Band Mlado Selo

If you are 5 or 7 or 9, or if you are a teen or young adult, or if you have ever been a part of the Čoček Nation / YAMMS / Mlado Selo EEFC camp youth ensembles, join us! If we have tunes...Read More

Iroquois Springs Site Map

Use this map to help you decide which cabin or cabin area to request on your registration form. Please note that the Hideaway rooms are generally reserved for staff.

Click here to download a full-size PDF of this map.

Getting to Iroquois Springs

Although you are responsible for getting yourself to camp, we will also try and help campers arrange carpools and ground transportation. Specific information about and forms for our ride program coming soon.

BY AIR

Iroquois Springs is in Rock Hill, in the southeast corner of New York State in the Catskill Mountains. The nearest large airports are those that serve New York City (we suggest JFK or La Guardia), or Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY (with the caveat: while Stewart Airport is a shorter distance from the camp site, finding a ride to camp is not often possible from Newburgh). The Iroquois Springs campground is about 90 miles NW of New York City, 80 Miles NE of Scranton, PA, and 125 miles SW of Albany, NY.

BY BUS

There is frequent service via the Shortline Bus Co. to Monticello, NY from the Port Authority bus station in Manhattan. Monticello Terminal is about 6 miles from camp. We will do our best to arrange a ride from the station to camp, or you can take a taxi or other rideshare service yourself.

DRIVING

Set your GPS to: 66 Bowers Rd., Rock Hill, NY 12775.

From Manhattan, Westchester, Long Island:

• New York State Thruway North (87N)
• Exit 16 (Harriman) to
• Route 17 West (future 86)
• Exit 110 (Wanaksink Lake)
• Take a left at the stop sign off the exit
• Take a right at the fork (after the blinking light)
• This becomes Bowers Road and leads directly into camp.

• Take I-95 North to
• Garden State Parkway to
• New York State Thruway North (87N)
• Exit 16 (Harriman) to
• Route 17 West (future 86)
• Exit 110 (Wanaksink Lake)
• Take a left at the stop sign off the exit
• Take a right at the fork (after the blinking light)
• This becomes Bowers Road and leads directly into camp.

• Take the Mass. Turnpike West to Sturbridge
• take I-84 West to Walkill/Middleton NY
• take Route 17 West (future 86)
• Exit 110 (Wanaksink Lake)
• Take a left at the stop sign off the exit
• Take a right at the fork (after the blinking light)
• This becomes Bowers Road and leads directly into camp.
• From Albany & Points North:
• New York State Thruway South (87S) to Newburgh
• Take I-84 West to Walkill/Middleton NY
• Take Route 17 West (future 86)
• Route 17 West (future 86)
• Exit 110 (Wanaksink Lake)
• Take a left at the stop sign off the exit
• Take a right at the fork (after the blinking light)
• This becomes Bowers Road and leads directly into camp.

• Route 17 East to
• Exit 109 (Rock Hill)
• Make a left at the end of the exit ramp
• Make a right at the stop sign onto Rock Hill Road
• Go about one mile
• Make a left at the fork at the stop sign onto Bowers Road.

Dine & Dance—Bed & Breakfast

Come for dinner, early evening activities, the dance party and the late-night kafana. Then spend the night and enjoy breakfast before you hit the road!

Here’s how it works:

6:30 p.m.: Arrive at our lovely Catskills site in time for a delicious dinner (see Directions tab above). Before you get in the dinner line, check in at the Front Desk in the Dance Hall/Theater and set up your bunk.

At 8:00 p.m. take in a folklore presentation, singalong, or join in our auction. Dancing to live music begins in the main hall generally around 9:00.

Our Kafana in the woods is a bar and a club, a grill and a pub, and a place where much music and merriment happens into the wee hours. Stay as long as you like!

Sleep in a bunk with the bedding you brought from home.

Roll out of bed, have breakfast by 9:30 a.m., and hit the trail by 10.

All this can be yours for just $150. Such a bargain! A cheap hotel in Monticello is about $85 and contains no options for gajda, rakija, čočeks, or ćevapčići!

HOW TO REGISTER

Registration for the B&B option will be available when general camp registration is open in spring 2027. Stay tuned!

Evening Schedule 2026

Culture Corners and Group Sings begin at 7:45 p.m. Dance parties, unless noted, begin at 9:00 p.m.

SATURDAY

Dance (dance party starts around 10 p.m.)

• Brass—Zlatne Uste
• Macedonian Village—Niva

SUNDAY

Group Sing: “Southern,” led by Kristina Vaškys

Dance

• Pontic—special guest Christos Tiktapanidis
• Bulgarian—Vlado & Hristo Mollov

MONDAY

Culture: Ethnographic Adventures in Transylvania with Zoë Aqua

Dance

• Greek Island—Izaki Metropoulos
• Romani—Benji Rifati

TUESDAY

Auction: 80s Revival! (dance party begins around 10:00 p.m.)

Dance

• Rhodope Gajda Sing-Along—special guest Mark Levy & Gajda Mafia
• Greek Brass—Kavala

WEDNESDAY

Culture: Interview with Vlado & Hristo Mollov, moderated by Lauren Brody & Carol Silverman

Dance

• N. Macedonian—Kristina Vaškys
• Greek—Beth Bahia Cohen & Yianni Roussos

THURSDAY

Group Sing: “Northern,” led by special guest Henry Goldberg

Dance

• Bulgarian—Nikolay Kolev & Valeri Georgiev
• Trans-Carpathian—Zoë Aqua

FRIDAY

Student Ensembles play for your dancing pleasure (dance party begins at 8:00 p.m.)

Daily Schedule 2026

CLASS LEVELS

• Beginner (B): You are new to this instrument/singing style.
• Intermediate (I): You have some proficiency: can match pitches, accurately replicate phrases heard by ear, and play at speed.
• Advanced (A): You have technical mastery: you are focused on stylistic details and self-expression.

If you are interested in a class that is not at your level, you can always audit! Please remember that the pace of instruction will not be geared to you, and hold your questions till the end of each session. If a class does not have a designated level, all are welcome!

SLOT 1 (9:30–10:45)

Dance: Bulgarian—Kotse Marinov

Sing:

• Vocal Technique B—Michele Simon
• Greek Dance Songs—Izaki Metropoulos

Instrumental:

• Santouri B—Yianni Roussos
• Clarinet A—Hristo Mollov
• Accordion I—Vlado Mollov
• Transylvanian Violin—Zoë Aqua

Ensemble: Beginner Ensemble—Demetri Tashie

Kids: Children’s Activities—Jaquetta Bustion

SLOT 2 (11:00–12:15)

Dance: Balkan for Beginners—Michael Ginsburg

Sing:

• Balkan Song Survey—Lauren Brody
• Bulgarian—Donka Koleva

Instrumental:

• Frame Drum B/I—Polly Tapia Ferber
• Tapan B—Matt
• Brass Melody—Benji Rifati

Ensemble:

• Bitov (Bulgarian Village)—Nikolay
• Rebetika—Izaki Metropoulos

Kids: Children’s Activities—Jaquetta Bustion

SLOT 3 (2:00–3:15)

Dance: Greek—Joe Graziosi

Sing: Vocal Technique Master Class—Michele Simon

Instrumental:

• Santouri I/A—Yianni Roussos
• Greek Violin Styles—Izaki Metropoulos
• Bulgarian Tambura B—Stoyan Kostov
• Gadulka I/A—Nikolay Kolev
• Clarinet I—Hristo Mollov

Ensemble: Macedonian Village—Kristina Vaškys

Culture: Gender in the Balkans—Carol Silverman

SLOT 4 (3:30–4:45)

Dance: Balkan—Michael Ginsburg

Sing:

• North Macedonian—Kristina Vaškys
• Bulgarian—Donka Koleva

Instrumental:

• Doumbek I—Polly Tapia Ferber
• Bulgarian Tambura I/A (melody + rhythm)—Stoyan Kostov
• Bulgarian Kaval B—Valeri Georgiev
• Tapan A—Matt Moran
• Thracian Gajda I—Peter Usmivkata Aleksiev

Ensemble: Greek—Beth Bahia Cohen

Kids: Youth Band “Mlado Selo”—Sarah Ferholt

SLOT 5 (5:00–6:15)

Dance: Bulgarian—Kotse Marinov

Sing:

• Romani I/A—Carol Silverman
• Songs of Strandzha & Velingrad—Lauren Brody

Instrumental:

• Macedonian Tambura I—Adam Good
• Bulgarian Kaval I/A—Valeri Georgiev
• Rhodope Gajda I/A—Peter Usmivkata Aleksiev
• Makam Theory—Beth Bahia Cohen
• Accordion A—Vlado Mollov

Ensemble:

• Brass Band—Benji Rifati & Daniel Schleifer
• Transylvanian—Zoë Aqua