The Staff

Meet the EEFC Staff

Administrative Staff

Rachel MacFarlane

General Manager
I have been intrigued by Balkan languages, folk music, and domestic arts for many years. I studied Russian in high school and went on to obtain a degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures with an emphasis in Balkan languages; later I worked for a number of years as a Slavic librarian at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago. My passion-driven activities have included performing with groups such as Seattle’s Radost Folk Ensemble and the San Francisco Bay Area’s Macedonian folk band Debela Mačka, the construction of Balkan folk costume reproductions, translation and transcription of Balkan folk song lyrics, creating beaded-crochet snakes, and exploring Balkan and other international cuisines. I have served as EEFC’s General Manager and Program Director for many years. In addition to my managerial duties, I have cut my editorial teeth with the EEFC, having been on the Kef Times production staff since its inception, and as a member of the Forum Folkloristika editorial team. I have also been a contributor to the Forum’s “Balkan Savories” culinary series. I reside in Oakland, California, where I played baritone horn for over a decade with the Bay Area’s Brass Menažeri Balkan Brass Band. I have continued my excellent Balkan brass adventures with Fanfare Zambaleta.

Ally Chapel

Communications Coordinator
I am a Colorado native with Croatian heritage, raised by two artistic parents. My father is a writer/musician and my mother is a visual artist, so I have been immersed in the art world my entire life. I began playing the saxophone at age eight and never put it down. I moved to New York City in 2015, and after a couple of years playing with jazz and classical groups, I took notice of the burgeoning brass band scene, which led me to many wonderful Balkan music experiences including Barbès on Tuesday nights and the Golden Festival. This sparked a desire to create open opportunities for people to build community and make music together. In 2017 I became a founding member of the L Train Brass Band, which is now a local nonprofit serving adult musicians of all skill levels, and a few years later I co-founded JAMbalaya!, NYC’s first New Orleans brass band jam.

I currently perform with Brass Queens, an all-female brass band I co-founded, which tours across the country and internationally. Before joining EEFC, I was Executive Director of the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO), following six years as its Marketing Director, where I led communication strategy, shaped the brand identity, and helped cultivate new venue partnerships and programming initiatives across New York City.