The Yale Women's Slavic Chorus (better known as the "Slavs") will be touring New York City March 6-13, 2010, presenting workshops and concerts of traditional and arranged music from all over the Balkans and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, and the Ukraine.

The chorus, founded in 1969, celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. Now 14 undergraduates and a law student carry the tradition, singing mostly a capella with occasional dumbek, violin or accordion and wearing traditional costumes. We have performed at the White House and a Yale presidential dinner with a Supreme Court judge of China, in addition to weddings, schools, cultural festivals, nursing homes, and Dwight hall for our own semester concerts at Yale.

We are an entirely student-run, student-directed ensemble. We transcribe and arrange much of our own music, learning from recordings of authentic Slavic and Balkan groups, workshops with well-known singers, and travels the countries from which our songs originate including Bulgaria in 2007 and Croatia this coming summer. On these trips, we visit small villages, taking master classes and learning songs from local vocalists. We sing songs of love, work, war, country life, and sorrow, striving to maintain the dissonant harmonies, unusual rhythms, and distinctive vocal qualities which make Slavic music unique and exciting for many listeners.

Classical Voice of North Carolina said of our music: The intonation of these women was nothing short of miraculous. In addition to the incredibly complex rhythmic and harmonic elements, sometimes you just marveled at the beauty of something as simple as their crystalline and perfect unisons Despite what must be extremely difficult music, they exuded a totally natural and effortless demeanor and each song was a new and thrilling adventure for the audience.

If you are interested in learning more about us or hearing the music yourself, our website is http://www.yale.edu/ysc/. Hear more at http://www.youtube.com/user/YaleSlavs.

If you know of a church, museum, party or other organization that might benefit from our music this spring, or if you are interested in sponsoring a public concert, please call or email Anna Rose Gable at 404 226 0996 or anna[dot]gable[at]yale[dot]edu.