News and Features
April 2008
Calling All Former Planinas!
Come back and join current group members for a reunion weekend, August 15-17, 2008, including social gatherings and participating in a concert at Swallow Hill on Saturday, August 16. Contact Valerie at 303-421-1980 or Julie at info@planina.org for more information!
In 1988, the inexperienced but intrepid Planina Balkan Women's Choir first performed songs of Eastern Europe for a Slavic Festival in Boulder. Since then, some 50 members have come through Planina's doors -- some for short periods and some for many years. Planina became a mixed chorus in 1999 and has released 2 CDs and a cookbook, studied with some stellar vocalists and instrumentalists from Eastern Europe, made two group trips to Bulgaria, and collaborated with many local artists. For this special concert, we welcome back several former members to raise their voices with us in celebration of this thrilling music.
February 2008
On January 25, we had the privilege of bringing Balkan harmonies to the stunning acoustics of St. John's Episcopal Cathedral once again. (The last time was almost exactly 10 years ago!) It was clear that many in the audience were hearing our music for the first time.
The concert also featured St. John's Schola Cantorum and the Cherry Creek Chorale. The CCC invited Planina back to join them in a rendition of one of the songs we'd worked on for our joint concerts last summer. The event was a fundraiser for the Sacred Landmarks Preservation program, a Historic Denver program benefitting historic places of worship.
December 2007
Planina's new cookbook was featured in a great article in Boulder's Daily Camera. Click here to read the story (free login may be required).
November 2007
Because the music we love is inextricably linked with celebrations, food, dancing, and community, Planina proudly announces our new release, "May It Fill Your Bowl: A Cookbook from Planina," which includes mostly Eastern European recipes plus a few potluck favorites from Planina members and friends -- all lovingly tested and tasted by group members and wrapped into a delightful, graphics-rich book, just in time for holiday giving.
The book was on sale for the first time at our Harvest Sampler concert in November at Boulder's Avalon Ballroom. Thanks to the efforts of many great volunteers and members of Planina, over 100 audience members enjoyed tasty samples of Eastern European foods and an exciting program of food-related music. Thanks to everyone who made this event a big success!
September 2007
Planina performs at the 16th Annual Swallow Hill Folk
Festival September 7th. We're giving three performances this month... it's been very busy! Thanks to Laura "Spunky" McGaughey for the photos!
July 2007
Planina participated in an exciting "MiniFest" performance at Swallow Hill on July 21. It was an excellent opportunity for us to collaborate with two other great local acts: Sandra Wong and Barbelfish Balkan Band. Various performers joined each other’s sets at different points, resulting in some delightful and unusual combinations, and everyone ended up on stage in a powerful jam session at the end. Lots of dancing in the aisles. Thrilling music.
We love collaborations and look forward to creating more like this in the future. Special thanks to Jim Williams of Swallow Hill for helping to inspire this combination of acts, and to Swallow Hill for producing the concert.
January 2007
Planina performed at the Glendale Library on January 27. Click here to see the great poster in Russian designed by the library staff!
Copyright © 2007 Planina