Meet the Board

Hannah Blair

Daly City, California
Chair of Program and Scholarship Committees.
Term: 10/2022—

I came to Balkan music via shape note singing, punk and metal—I like any kind of music where the whole village gets together to make a ruckus! I was born and raised in Washington State, and the San Francisco Bay Area has been my home since 1998. I’m a visual artist, a DJ and mix-tape maker and a lover of non-commercial radio. I make a music education podcast called Every Record Ever Recorded, and I’m a member of Polynya, a tiny choir which sings folk music from Eastern Europe and beyond.

I first attended Mendocino camp in 2015 and have been a member of the Program Committee since 2017. I am equally proud of my service on the Mendo bath crew! Volunteering has been part of my EEFC experience from the very beginning, and one of my favorite things about our community is the cooperative spirit. I’m honored to serve the community that has given me so much joy!

Paul Brown

New York City, New York
Treasurer
Term: 10/2023—

My journey to Balkan music and the EEFC began in 1989 at the misfits table at a wedding in Los Angeles, where I met someone who sang with the women’s choir Nevenka. She gave me a cassette of the group, which I wore out through overlistening and bad dashboard placement. In 1994 I went to hear the women’s choir Savina and the tamburitza group Zapadne Lole in Berkeley, and learned about this Balkan Music & Dance Camp in the Mendocino Woodlands. I went for a day in 1994, a week in 1995, and was hired as House Bassist in Mendocino in 1996. I’ve been rehired in that position most years since then, and was added to the East Coast camp staff in 2001.

I received my Bachelor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music in 1983 and have played electric and acoustic bass in many different bands and many different styles. But playing Balkan music always feels like home to me—the improvisations, the complex meters, the enchanting haunting harmonies all touch a deep part of my being. Through the EEFC camps and programming, I have been able to play this music for the dance community at large and with like-minded musicians, and have been fortunate enough to play both with and for masters in these styles of music and dance, American and foreign-born. Being a part of the EEFC world has certainly changed my life.

I play acoustic and electric bass with several groups in the EEFC community and beyond, including Pontic Firebird, Kavala, Souren Baronian’s Taksim, The Glass Key Trio, and Şerefe, among others. Serving on the Board of the EEFC will allow me to contribute to the organization in ways outside of performance. I’m honored and proud to be a member of this Board.

Marchette DuBois

Seattle, Washington
Chair of Marketing & Communications Committee.
Term: 9/2020—

My Balkan journey began with a class on the music of Hungary and Eastern Europe, which I took on a whim at Cornell University, after I completed my music degree at SUNY Potsdam. Soon after that, I moved across the country to Seattle and joined the Romanian-influenced Ensemble Sub Masa. We discovered the EEFC as a group, and I first attended the Mendocino workshop in 2004 as an instrumentalist and singer. I eventually went on to study music and language in Romania before founding my own band, Bucharest Drinking Team, which flourished in Seattle from 2010 to 2017. This string and brass ensemble performed music informed by folk, pop, and rock music from the Balkans and Eastern Europe. After obtaining an MFA from Seattle University in Arts Leadership, I relocated to the third coast, to Austin, Texas. Covid-19 had other plans, and I returned to Seattle mid-pandemic in 2021.

In the nonprofit sector I have worked with both HONK! Fest West, and Honk!TX in various event production capacities. I volunteered with the American Romanian Cultural Society, helping to produce the Seattle-based Romanian Film Festival. And from 2009 to 2017, 2022-present I volunteer with the Northwest Folklife Festival, as a community coordinator for the “Balkan Misfits” showcase.

By day I work as a library technician at the University of Washington’s International Studies section where I am surrounded by books and media from all around the world.

Brad Emmett

Alexandria, Virginia
Term: 10/2023—

I’m originally from South Florida, but currently live just outside of Washington, DC, in Alexandria, VA. I was brought into the community by Jen Shearer, who invited my wife and me to our first East Coast camp in 2016. It was apparent by the end of that first camp that this would be something I’d be a part of for a long time. I’ve been to every East Coast camp since and have enjoyed every minute of it.

As we all know, the EEFC community is a special one. From my very first camp, I felt welcome and encouraged right away. Since then I’ve made meaningful connections within the community and developed some dear friendships. It’s been an honor to study from from the renowned teachers at camp who always create a safe environment to try something new; my understanding of music has increased dramatically since my first camp. Many of the dances still elude me, but I enjoy picking up a little more each year.

I attended the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and graduated with a double major in Commercial Music Composition/Production and Music Business. I have worked at the United States Copyright Office as a Copyright Examiner for the past 17 years, where I have learned an extensive amount about copyright and copyright registration. I currently work on the Office’s Motion Picture Team examining movies, TV shows, video games and other video content. Outside of work and the EEFC, I perform as a solo act, with my own cover band, and as a guest in other bands.

I’m honored to be a part of the board and look forward to being able to contribute to an organization that has become very special to me.

Anna Goldberg

Detroit, Michigan
President, Chair of Administrative and Development Committees.
Term: 9/2020—

I was born in New York and grew up in Michigan. My Balkan music and dance journey started before I was born—both of my parents were and are still involved in the Balkan music and dance community. I began attending East Coast Balkan Camp in 1999. It has become such a big part of my life ever since, and because of my experiences there, I have had an enduring love for and appreciation of playing musical instruments and learning Balkan dances. Perhaps more important, growing up in such a loving and caring community has really shaped me into the person I am today.

One of the greatest experiences of being a part of this community was being a member of the East Coast Balkan camp youth band, formerly known as Čoček Nation, now known as Mlado Selo. In 2019 we had the opportunity to travel as a group called YAMMS (Young American Musicians to Macedonia and Serbia) to the Balkans and actually learn the music we listen and dance to from the musicians in their home environments.

With all of my involvement in and appreciation for this community, I am very honored to serve on the EEFC board.

Camille Holmes

Oakland, California
Term: 10/2022—

The Balkan music and dance community has been a defining element of my life since my first camp in Mendocino when I was 6 years old. While I’ve studied music classically and love to sing, dancing is what drives me. I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 10 years and studied Literary and Cultural Studies at Mills College. In addition to dancing and music, I am passionate about travel, food, and language. My day job is administrative business support at a software company, and I’ve also had experience in event management and travel operations. I’m excited to be part of the EEFC board to continue to bring community together through music and dance!

Katy Kondrat

Kingston, New York
Term: 1/2024—

My connection to Balkan music started as a young child when my stepdad would play Bulgarian Women’s Choir in the house, and I would try to work out the voice parts by ear. My sisters and I spent time in our teen years singing in harmony together—pulling inspiration from traditional music of Appalachia, the Balkans, as well as early jazz. I currently perform as a singer with several projects in New York across several genres, including a harmony-driven vocal duo with my sister, a jazz manouche band, and a funk-inspired Balkan band, Max’s New Hat.

Most of my career has involved working with nonprofits and cooperatives, most recently in the food, farm, and food justice spaces. I’ve served on, founded and led several boards, and I love being part of the collaboration, visioning and dedicated work that make incredible events like Balkan Camp happen.

My daughter, Magnolia, and I first attended east coast Balkan camp in 2019 on a scholarship. It was such a powerful experience, we were blown away by the sense of community, the incredible musicianship among campers and staff, and the overflowing joy and inspiration. I have served on the EEFC’s scholarship committee since 2020, and am looking forward to deepening my connection to the EEFC as a board member.

Matt Moran

Brooklyn, New York
Secretary.
Term: 1/2022—

My first EEFC experience was east coast camp in 1997, and I’ve been coming back ever since, as a camper, teacher, and eventually also as a parent. The EEFC transformed my understanding of music and community and I’m deeply grateful for the joy, experiences, and friendship that the organization has afforded me.

I’m a musician and educator, with a masters degree in composition, playing and teaching music in the Balkan, new music, and jazz worlds. Vibraphone is my primary instrument, but that first EEFC camp revealed my enthusiasm for tapan, which became my instrument in Balkan music. I’ve had the great fortune to make music with many of the musicians in our EEFC community, and also with visiting and immigrant Balkan masters.

Music education is something I spend a lot of time thinking about, and I’ve been increasingly active in music education for incarcerated populations for over a decade. I currently co-lead Carnegie Hall’s music education program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, and help connect the musical communities we have created both inside and outside prison.

For the past two decades I’ve led Slavic Soul Party!, a brass band that brings together American musical influences and Balkan traditions. Learning how to keep a group engaged in learning and expressing tradition and creativity, how to find funding and performance opportunities for that work, and how to create meaningful community, has been a huge part of my leadership and learning process. I hope to help make the EEFC an inspiring community for many years to come!

Rob Pleshar

Chicago, Illinois
Vice President.
Term: 10/2022—

I started coming to East Coast camp in 2006 and have been coming ever since, working the last several years as stage manager for the dance hall. My experience with Balkan music started before that, hearing tamburitza and other groups at community events growing up in the Chicago area and Hibbing, Minnesota. I started playing tuba when I was in junior high school and picked it up again after college. While in college (in 1986 or so) I found a record in the radio station record library called Golden Horns: Brass Band Music of Serbia, listened to it and instantly realized this is the stuff I’d been looking for but didn’t know existed! I started collecting and listening to as many records as I could find, expanding from brass bands to other music from the area as well. I had no idea there was even such an organization as EEFC until 2006. As soon as I found out, I signed up for camp and was hooked.

I am a librarian by trade, working at University of Chicago, and am a semi-professional tuba player. I have played in a Chicago-based Balkan-inspired brass band, Black Bear Combo, for many years, and also play jazz, polka, rock and other music. I am excited and honored to be a member of the EEFC board and I will work hard for the organization. I have learned so much, made so many friends and had so many wonderful experiences due to the EEFC, and I am happy to give back in whatever small way that I can.