Balkan Music &
Dance Workshops

Every summer the EEFC presents two week-long summer camps, which we’re revving up again after the long pandemic drought. Registration is open for both workshops!

June 17-24, 2023
More info…

August 5-12, 2023
More info…


quilted-dancers

Stay in Touch

There’s more than one way to stay connected to the EEFC throughout the year. Subscribe to our email Newsletter for monthly updates. Join the Discussion List (an active email group with searchable archives since 1993). Send us a message.


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Join the circle.
Make a contribution.

Since the beginning the East European Folklife Center has depended on you—our big-hearted community!


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Our 2022-23 programs are supported in part by a generous grant from the California Arts Council.

The Board

The EEFC is directed by a board comprised, according to its bylaws, of no fewer than 5 members, and no more than 11. A director’s term is nominally five years, however directors can and do step down or take leaves of absence at any time. The Board is responsible for defining and promoting the mission of the organization, and oversees operations, staff, and various committees. Board members serve as committee chairs.

Current Board Members

Maclovia Quintana, President, Chair of Administrative and Program Committees
Anna Goldberg, Vice President, Chair of Development Commmittee
Matt Moran, Secretary
Lea Anne Kangas, Treasurer, Chair of Finance and Technology Committees
Hannah Blair
Marchette DuBois, Chair of Marketing & Communications Committee
Camille Holmes
Rob Pleshar
Kristina Vaškys, Chair of Scholarship, Governance, and Nominating Committees

Contacting the EEFC Board
To reach the board, please send us an email or write to us at:
Board Liaison
East European Folklife Center
P.O. Box 12488
Berkeley, CA 94712-3488

 


Meet the Board

 

Hannah Blair

Daly City, California
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 pleased to be asked to join the board, and honored to serve the community that has given me so much joy!

 

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, where I currently serve on the planning committee for the HONK!TX Festival of Community Street Bands.

In the nonprofit sector I have also worked with HONK! Fest West 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 I worked with the Northwest Folklife Festival, where I coordinated the “Balkan Misfits” and “HONK! Fest West” showcases.

Through the years I have been inspired by Balkan hospitality, and find any excuse to throw a party. Even if it’s a socially distanced, technically challenging party! I look forward to serving the EEFC community.

 

Anna Goldberg

Edwards, Colorado
Vice President, Chair of Development Committee.
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!

 

Lea Anne Kangas

Columbus, Ohio
Treasurer, Chair of Finance and Technology Committees.
Term: 10/2019—

My path to the EEFC began with international folk dancing during my teens, soon gravitating toward Balkan music and dancing. My first full-immersion experience of Balkan camp was in 2012, and I’ve been a steady attender since.

A background in music theory and composition along with coursework in audio recording led me to work as a sound engineer for a number of years while living in the Washington, DC, area. I also do a fair amount of music transcription. More recently, I’ve taken up a number of instruments in addition to a renewed interest in singing, performing with the Balkan band Hajde, as well as several other bands in styles ranging from bluegrass to American folk and jazz. At camp, I can usually be found somewhere in the tambura and singing classes.

In my local school and dance groups, I’ve served many times as Treasurer among other organizational roles. I was a member of the EEFC Program Committee from 2015-2022. I look forward to helping keep this wonderful community flourishing.

 

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
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.

 

Maclovia Quintana

Oakland, California
President, Chair of Administrative and Program Committees.
Term: 9/2018—

I was born and raised in northern New Mexico by artist/musician parents. I’ve been performing Balkan and Eastern European music since college, when I joined the Yale Women’s Slavic Chorus. I sang with the Slavic Chorus for 10 years.  In 2012, I co-founded the Balkan band Orkestar BAM, which played for five years in the greater New York City area. I’m also a percussionist, having studied doumbek with Polly Tapia Ferber and Faisal Zedan; and I sing with the Bay Area’s Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble. When I’m not playing music, I am the Director of People and Culture at Kitchen Table Advisors. I’m delighted to be serving on the board of the EEFC!

 

Kristina Vaškys

Brooklyn, New York
Chair of Scholarship, Governance and Nominating Committees.
Term: 9/2018—

I am a dancer, singer, and instrumentalist who first attended camp in 2004. I was first exposed to Balkan music and dance while performing with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans for two years in college, and the experience left me curious to discover more. Upon finding Michael Ginsburg’s dance class in New York City, I was introduced to the wider EEFC community, Golden Festival, and Balkan Camp. It has been a significant part of my life ever since.

I currently play tambura and sing with Niva, an all-female Macedonian village band formed in 2010. I also sing with Accord Treble Choir, and have been a music educator in New York City independent schools since 2006. I am excited and honored to be serving on the board of EEFC.

 

Past Boards of Directors

We would like to acknowledge and thank all past Boards for their work and dedication to the EEFC.

Board members are listed by year and not necessarily by terms served, which run from September to September.

 

2022
Marchette DuBois
Anna Goldberg
Lea Anne Kangas
Craig Kurumada
Matt Moran
Maclovia Quintana
Alysha Shaw
Corinne Sykes
Kristina Vaškys

2021
Marchette DuBois
Anna Goldberg
Lea Anne Kangas
Craig Kurumada
Alex Marković
Maclovia Quintana
Alysha Shaw
Corinne Sykes
Kristina Vaškys

2020
Lea Anne Kangas
Noel Kropf
Craig Kurumada
Alex Marković
Maclovia Quintana
Corinne Sykes
Barbara Uhlemann
Kristina Vaškys

2019
Lea Anne Kangas
Noel Kropf
Craig Kurumada
Alex Marković
Maclovia Quintana
Melinda Russial
Barbara Uhlemann
Kristina Vaškys

2018
Noel Kropf
Craig Kurumada
Amy Mills
Melinda Russial
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie
Barbara Uhlemann

2017
Elena Erber
Noel Kropf
Amy Mills
Melinda Russial
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie
Barbara Uhlemann

2016
Elena Erber
Noel Kropf
Amy Mills
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie
Barbara Uhlemann

2015
Elena Erber
Jean “Biz” Hertzberg
Noel Kropf
Nancy Leeper
Amy Mills
Eva Salina Primack
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie

2014
Elena Erber
Jean “Biz” Hertzberg
Nancy Leeper
Amy Mills
Ann Norton
Eva Salina Primack
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie

2013
Douglas Lane Allen
Erica George
Jean “Biz” Hertzberg
Nancy Leeper
Ann Norton
Eva Salina Primack
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie

2012
Douglas Lane Allen
Denys Carrillo
Erica George
Jean “Biz” Hertzberg
Nancy Leeper
Ann Norton
Eva Salina Primack
Sanna Rosengren
Corinna Snyder
Demetri Tashie

2011
Dan Auvil
Denys Carrillo
Erica George
Riccardo Heald
Brenna MacCrimmon
Ann Norton
Demetri Tashie

2010
Denys Carrillo
Erica George
Riccardo Heald
Brenna MacCrimmon
Linda Mucyn
Ann Norton
Michael Sensor
Demetri Tashie

2009
Dan Auvil
Denys Carrillo
Riccardo Heald
Brenna MacCrimmon
Linda Mucyn
Ann Norton
Michael Sensor
Demetri Tashie

2008
Dan Auvil
Denys Carrillo
Riccardo Heald
Brenna MacCrimmon
Linnea Mandell
Michael Sensor
Demetri Tashie

2007
Dan Auvil
Denys Carrillo
Emily Cohen
Matthew Fass
Gitry Heydebrand
Linnea Mandell
Michael Sensor

2006
Dan Auvil
Denys Carrillo
Matthew Fass
Emily Cohen
Gitry Hydebrand
Linnea Mandell
Michael Sensor

2005
Barbara Babin
Denys Carrillo
Emily Cohen
Matthew Fass
Gitry Hydebrand
Linnea Mandell
Jerry Summers
Michael Sensor

2004
Barbara Babin
Michelle Benoit
Emily Cohen
Matthew Fass
Gitry Hydebrand
Linnea Mandell
Janet Pollock
Martie Ripson
Randy Trigg
John Uhlemann

2003
Barbara Babin
Michelle Benoit
Belle Birchfield
Emily Cohen
Matthew Fass
Janet Pollock
Martie Ripson
Randy Trigg
John Uhlemann

2002
Barbara Babin
Michelle Benoit
Belle Birchfield
Julie Lancaster
Janet Pollock
Martie Ripson
Randy Trigg
John Uhlemann

2001
Michelle Benoit
Belle Birchfield
Laura Blumenthal
Mike Gage
Julie Lancaster
Lise Liepman
Yves Moreau
Mark Primack
Martie Ripson
Matt Smith
Randy Trigg
John Uhlemann

2000
Laura Blumenthal
Mike Gage
Melanie Goldberg
Julie Lancaster
Lise Liepman
Yves Moreau
Mark Primack
Matt Smith

1999
Laura Blumenthal
Mike Gage
Lynette Garlan
Melanie Goldberg
Julie Lancaster
Mark Primack
Yves Moreau
Matt Smith

1998
Belle Birchfield
Laura Blumenthal
Mike Gage
Lynette Garlan
Dennis Godfrey
Melanie Goldberg
George Long
Yves Moreau
Judy Newland
Matt Smith

1997
Jerry Agin
Belle Birchfield
Mike Gage
Lynette Garlan
Dennis Godfrey
Melanie Goldberg
George Long
Judy Newland

1996
Jerry Agin
Belle Birchfield
Jeanne Busch
Michael Leach
George Long
Dennis Godfrey
Lynette Garlan
Joe Mandell
Judy Newland
Christine Vida

1995
Jerry Agin
David Bilides
Belle Birchfield
Jeanne Busch
Dennis Godfrey
Michael Leach
George Long
Joe Mandell
Christine Montross
Laura Pannaman
Vlad Popovich
Steve Ramsey
Danilo Yanich

1994
David Bilides
Jeanne Busch
Michael Leach
George Long
Margaret Loomis
Rachel MacFarlane
Christine Montross
Laura Pannaman
Vlad Popovich
Steve Ramsey
Danilo Yanich

1993
David Bilides
Bill Cope
Michael Leach
Mark Levy
George Long
Margaret Loomis
Rachel MacFarlane
Miamon Miller
Christine Montross
Laura Pannaman
Steve Ramsey
Sonia Tamar Seeman
Carol Silverman
Danilo Yanich

1992
David Bilides
Bill Cope
Jerry Kisslinger
Mark Levy
Miamon Miller
Sonia Tamar Seeman
Carol Silverman

1991
David Bilides
Bill Cope
Jerry Kisslinger
Mark Levy
Miamon Miller
Sonia Tamar Seeman
Carol Silverman


Joining the EEFC Board of Directors

We welcome your interest in participating in the East European Folklife Center (see links to application forms below). Joining the Board of Directors is a notable contribution. Board members serve five-year terms. The Board currently meets monthly for one hour over Zoom. There are additional meetings throughout the year where the Board meets for longer periods of time. All Board members are required to serve on one or more committees, which hold regular meetings of their own (averaging about 4 hours per month, depending on the committee). The Board also hosts quarterly office hours for the community online, with each session lasting one hour.

If you are interested in exploring other ways of helping EEFC with your expertise, time and effort please take a look at other volunteer opportunities.

The EEFC board must be comprised, according to its bylaws, of no fewer than 5 members, and no more than 11. A director’s term is nominally five years, however directors can and do step down or take leaves of absence at any time.

Broadly, the skills and experiences we need on our Board now and in the future are:

Essential qualities

  • Strong communication skills; ability to be a trusted and effective liaison with the public and with our community, able to have difficult conversations
  • Ability to work well in groups: good listening skills, encouraging of diversity of thought, ability to keep the conversation on track, and comfortable with consensus
  • Open to change and willing to lead changes
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Competency in technology needed to work remotely and access board documents
  • Commitment to the vision and mission of the EEFC
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality

Additional assets

  • Financial management experience, and ability to create and manage forecasts and budgets
  • Experience managing people: managing expectations and providing performance feedback
  • Project and program management skills: execution-oriented, strong follow-through and delivery skills
  • Experience/expertise in developing and delivering marketing strategies and plans
  • Experience/expertise in creating and managing not-for-profit fundraising strategies; and in the operation of not-for-profits in general
  • Strategic planning experience, including the ability to lead a strategic planning effort
  • Experience as a workshop attendee
  • Balkan culture/music/dance fluency