25402540
00March 6, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Sani Rifati,   voiceofroma@gmail.com

Voice of Roma’s International Roma Day Events
International Roma Day on April 5, 2012 in Petaluma
International Roma Day on April 6, 2012 in San Francisco

Petaluma & San Francisco, CA.  Voice of Roma has planned two very special events in honor of International Roma Day 2012.   International Roma Day will be celebrated in Petaluma with an evening concert by the Stevens Family "Gypsy Boys" band with guest guitarist Danny Lee Fender at the Petaluma Historical Museum on Thursday, April 5th, 2012.  The “Gypsy Boys” band will move south to the Croatian American Cultural Center in San Francisco on Friday April 6th where a more extensive celebration is planned with San Francisco’s original & hottest Balkan Romani (“Gypsy”) brass band, Brass Menažeri. Kosovo Rom and Voice of Roma founder, Sani Rifati will give a presentation about Voice of Roma’s work with displaced Roma in Kosovo, and teach traditional Balkan-Romani dances.

The “Gypsy Boys” are Paul Stevens, accordionist, guitarist, lead and backup vocals and coordinator, composer & manager, and George Stevens, Lead Guitarist, Bouzouki and Mandolin, lyricist & performer.  They are the third generation of the Stevens Family Band, performing Romani music that includes Django Reinhardt's jazz, plus Serbian, Greek, Hungarian and Russian influences. The band formed in the 80’s when several grandchildren began playing with grandfather Vine, a renowned mandolinist and important leader of the Los Angeles Romani community. They perform frequently at Romani gatherings and celebrations in Southern California, New York, and Florida, and have also performed at New York’s Skirball Museum with the famous guitarist Les Paul and with renowned bouzouki player Yanis Yamakis Sporos in Greece.
Directed by trumpeter & clarinetist Peter Jaques, Brass Menažeri (pronounced “Menagerie”) unites the Bay Area’s foremost interpreters & reimaginers of the Balkan traditions.  The band draws on many of the characteristics common throughout the Balkans: brazen horn lines, odd-metered rhythms, riveting, close harmonies, soulful improvisations, and a mission to make people dance.  
Attendees will be able enjoy authentic Romani/Balkan food by prepared by Julia Pecak.  Julia’s cooking style is based on seasonal, natural, and fresh ingredients, combining traditional Roma flavors, with spices and aromas from around the world. A Hungarian-born Roma, she was chef and owner of former San Francisco restaurant "Bistro E Europe with Roma (Gypsy) Flavor".  Voice of Roma will have a vendor’s table with CD’s, handcrafts, and books on Romani culture for sale.
  
International Roma Day (April 8) was officially declared in 1990 in Poland, during the fourth World Romani Congress in honor of the first major international meeting of Roma representatives, 7-12 of April, 1971 in London, UK. Since then Roma around the globe celebrate our social origins, language, culture, unity, and in particular, romipen (preservation of Rom identity) near the date of the original gathering.  VOR held San Francisco's first annual International Roma Day event in 2000. In addition to romipen, our goals are to introduce audiences to and provide performing opportunities for renowned Romani performing artists, create a gathering place for Romani and other immigrant and refugee communities, and raise awareness about the human rights issues faced by Roma in today's world. In particular, we focus on education regarding the dire circumstances of the Roma in and from Kosovo.

Admission to the concert at the Petaluma Historical Museum (located at 20 Fourth Street, in Petaluma), is $10 for museum members; $15 for non-members.  Admission for the events at the Croatian American Cultural Center (60 Onondaga Avenue, San Francisco) is $16 for adults and free for children under age 12.  Tickets are available at the door or online through Brown Paper Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/235105.  

International Roma Day events are partially supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation.  Proceeds benefit the educational, cultural and humanitarian aid programs of Voice of Roma.  For further information about Voice of Roma programs, visit the VOR website: http://www.voiceofroma.com or call the Voice of Roma office at (707)823-7941.
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Schedule & Artists Biographies:
April 5, Thursday International Roma Day Celebration the Petaluma Historical Museum
Petaluma Historical Museum, 20 Fourth Street, Petaluma, CA
7:00 pm Concert with Stevens Family "Gypsy Boys" band from Los Angeles, with Danny Lee Fender

April 6, Friday International Roma Day Celebration at the Croatian American Cultural Center 
CACC, 60 Onondaga Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112 
7:30 pmBalkan/Romani Dance Instruction by Kosovo Rom and Voice of Roma Founder, Sani Rifati
8:30 pmBrass Menažeri 
9:30 pmVoice of Roma in Kosovo, Slide Show Presentation by Kosovo Rom and Voice of Roma Founder, Sani Rifati
10:30 pmStevens Family "Gypsy Boys" concert with Danny Lee Fender, 
Authentic Romani/Balkan food by Julia Pecak, CD’s, handcrafts, and books on Romani culture will be available for sale.

Artist Biographies:

Gypsy Boys with special guest guitarist Danny Fender: The Gypsy Boys were a popular segment at the Roma Festival in 2010, and VoR is pleased to have them back for 2012. The Gypsy Boys are comprised of Paul Stevens, a composer, accordionist, and guitarist, who also sings lead and backup vocals, and his equally-accomplished brother, George Stevens, lead guitarist, bouzouki and mandolin, lyricist & performer.  

Sani Rifati: Sani Rifati, President and co-founder of Voice of Roma and of the California Herdeljezi Festival. Sani, an exuberant and exhilarating dance instructor, has taught all over the world, most recently at “The Gathering” in Bahia, Brazil. Sani hastaught at numerous prestigious festivals across the United States including the Kolo Festival in SF, the Chicago Spring Dance Festival, Mainewoods Camp, Portland Maine, Balkanalia, Portland Oregon, Folkball, Madison Wisconsin, and at Balkan music and dance camps in the U.S. as well as at schools and folk dance events throughout the Bay Area. 

Brass Menažeri (pronounced “Menagerie”) is San Francisco’s original & hottest Balkan Romani (“Gypsy”) Brass Band. Our music cascades through Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Greece & even Rajasthan with wild rhythms, new sensibilities, innovative arrangements & original compositions, expanding the traditions while we remain rooted within them.
Directed by trumpeter & clarinetist Peter Jaques, Brass Menazeri unites the Bay Area’s foremost interpreters & reimaginers of the Balkan traditions.
Long before the current Balkan brass music craze was iconified by crossover artists like Beirut and NY’s Balkan Beat Box, the nine musicians of the San Francisco Bay Area’s powerhouse Brass Menažeri Balkan Brass Band were already getting deep into the tradition, developed over centuries by the Rom (Gypsy) communities of Serbia, Macedonia and Greece, which yields music as alive with ecstatic celebration as with despairing laments. The band draws on many of the characteristics common throughout the Balkans: brazen horn lines, odd-metered rhythms, riveting, close harmonies, soulful improvisations, and a mission to make people dance.
Now a wider audience is taking notice, as Brass Menažeri’s powerful performances drive some of the most fresh and exciting live shows in the Bay Area, including SF Weekly’s “Best Crazed Gypsy Brass Band Dance Party”, Kafana Balkan, that has packed most of San Francisco’s venues over its 3 year history.
The reissue of their 2008 album Vranjski San (Vranje Dream) showcases the collective’s exuberant, road-tightened sound and repertoire of traditional Balkan music with songs in Rromanes, Bosnian and Greek languages complemented by original compositions and Indian rhythms. Vranjski San is a piece of 21st century international music brought to you from the burgeoning Bay Area arts scene by Brass Menazeri and Porto Franco Records.