Rumelia Collective

Rumelia Collective is a group of musicians who love playing the music of the Balkans and Mideast, as well as many other musical styles from around the world. Members Nicolle Roen, Willa Roberts, Sitara Schauer, and Alysha Shaw weave an intricate and mesmerizing blend of contemporary and traditional folk elements in their arrangements. “Rumelia” comes from the word “Rumeli” meaning “Land of the Romans,” a Turkish word used to describe the Southern Balkan region. The music is unique to the western ear in that it uses odd time signatures (e.g. 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 11/8), close harmonies, as well as eastern scales and tonalities. Rumelia Collective’s core repertoire derives from traditional and popular tunes of Albania, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria, to name a few. Sitara Schauer is a multi-instrumentalist musician, (primarily a violinist) composer, teacher and performer. She has orchestrated numerous compositions for theatre, operas, festivals, art installations, schools and film. Sitara’s primary creative expression is her band, Rumelia Collective. This traditional and contemporary ensemble presents the exotic and delightful sounds of the Balkans. Playing together for almost two decades, Rumelia’s repertoire is derived from traditional and popular tunes of Albania, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Nicolle Roen is a vocalist, percussionist, and multi-instrumentalist who dabbles on accordion and tambura (traditional stringed instrument of Macedonia and northern Greece). She has been studying and performing Balkan music since 2004 and is also a solo artist with several contemplative and electronic albums released under her middle name NEILL. In addition to playing music, Nicolle teaches yoga and meditation and spends time hiking, folk dancing, and mothering. Willa Roberts is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger/composer and teacher specializing in music from Eastern Europe, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, Turkey, and beyond. She is known for her evocative, rich, and versatile voice, as well as her precision, authenticity, musicality, and passionate engagement with community through music. Willa is featured with her vocal trio, Black Sea Hotel, on the Grammy Award-winning Yo-Yo Ma/Silk Road Ensemble’s album, Sing Me Home . Other recent projects include the soundtrack for the film Don’t Worry Darling , the soundtrack for Meow Wolf Denver with Rumelia Collective, collaboration/performance with Kronos Quartet and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and solo performances in the Southwest premiere of Christopher Tin’s The Drop that Contained the Sea and Calling All Dawns. Willa is musical director for both Sevda Choir and SACRA Theater Company. Alysha Shaw is an interdisciplinary artist, musician, and community organizer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Shaw has studied and performed music from the Balkans and Mideast since 2006, specializing in vocals and percussion. She has studied percussion extensively with Polly Tapia Ferber, and studied regional vocal techniques from Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Macedonia from a number of professional musicians from these respective countries. Her studies have brought her to Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece, and her performances have taken her across the United States. Her current work explores the intersections of art, social action, and folklore. Alysha is the producer and voice behind her newest musical endeavor, Nocturne Spark. Dinner and cocktails starting at 5:30 pm. Showtime is 7:00 pm. Reservations highly recommended.