Aaron "Aani" Kisslinger

Brass Band Teacher's Assistant

Aaron “Aani” Kisslinger (they/them) is a vocalist, brass player, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, storyteller and writer born and raised in New York City. Drawing on their upbringing in the lineages of Klezmer and Balkan brass, they explore the connections between Jewish, Romani, Ottoman, and Arabic musics. In addition to creating original, soulful “ElectraBrassPop” as AANI, Aani is the bandleader of Novi Hitovi Brass Band and Dancing Divas Brass Band, and a member of Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, queer/trans Salsa band Las Mariquitas, Stoop Kidz Brass Band, EMEFE, and Git Azoy Klezmer Collective. You can also find them playing horns with Slavic Soul Party!, The Klezmatics, Moses Sumney, Ric Wilson, Brooklyn Nomads, High and Mighty Brass Band, and more.

Aani has traveled to the Balkans independently as well as with Zlatne Uste and the YAAMS project to study and perform with master Romani brass musicians in Serbia and Macedonia. They were a 2024 fellow at the OneBeat Balkans residency in Prizren, Kosovo, collaborating with musicians from various Balkan countries and the U.S. to compose collaborative, original works and perform them in Priština, Kosovo and Belgrade, Serbia.

Aani has been the Teaching Assistant for Brass Ensemble since 2023, and is on the organizing committee for Zlatne Uste Golden Festival. They are grateful to be a practitioner of the various lineages of Eastern European music, and to continue their exploration of cultural connections at EEFC Balkan Camp.