2023/24 season
Photographs by William Wayland
JANET KUTULAS
Janet Kutulas joined Kitka in 1988, when she broke both her hands in a cycling accident and was temporarily unable to play her flute. She was a co-director of the group from 1997 to 2010 and currently directs Zele, a Kitka Community Chorus. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Janet performed as a flutist in the Chicago area as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (a training program of the Chicago Symphony), the New Arts Ensemble and the Illinois Philharmonic and in the Bay Area as a regular member of both the Berkeley Symphony and the California Symphony, as well as the Lamplighters Orchestra, and various regional orchestras and chamber groups. As a founding member, she was the flutist for 15 years with Earplay, an instrumental chamber ensemble that performs newly written works by living composers, and she has also performed in the San Francisco Symphony’s New and Unusual Music Series, and with Composers, Inc., among other Bay Area new music chamber groups. She likes to spend as much time outside as possible and she and her husband are constantly scheming to move out of the city to wherever the “countryside” is.
KELLY ATKINS
Kitka’s Deputy Director, Kelly Atkins, has actively performed, written, recorded, produced and toured for over 20 years, including for the critically acclaimed indie-rock band 20 Minute Loop, indie-folk band Little Gems, The Bye Bye Blackbirds (“Top shelf rock and roll for the thinking man and woman”), the electronic duo Rondo Brothers, and harmony vocalist, keyboardist, and flutist with scores of artists, including Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Deltron 3030), Chali 2na, members of Hieroglyphics, Jonathan Segel and Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven/Monks of Doom), and many others. She has appeared on over fifty recorded albums. Kelly is also available as a session singer, producer, arranger, song doctor, and vocal coach virtually or in person in Marin County. She also leads the Marin Kitka Community Choir in San Anselmo. Kelly became a member of Kitka in 2010 and she continues to be thrilled, challenged and deeply satisfied by all that being a “Kitkat” offers.
KRISTINE BARRETT
Kristine Barrett is a multimedia artist, composer and vocalist specializing in traditional music from Eastern Europe, the British Isles, and Northern Europe. Hailing from a long line of folk and classical farmer musicians from the American Midwest and Sweden, her musical career spans rock, early music, experimental new music, and folk. After completing a double BFA in Photography/New Media and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute, Kristine went on to study composition with Tony Conrad at SUNY Buffalo and the legendary Fred Frith at Mills College, where she received a MFA in Electronic Music Composition and Recording Media in 2006. As of 2023, Kristine also has an MA in Folklore from UC Berkeley. She has released four full-length albums, two EPs, and appeared on several compilation albums.
ERIN LASHNITS HERMAN
Erin Lashnits Herman grew up on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, and moved to the Bay Area in 2005. Her love of Eastern European folk music began as an undergraduate at Yale University, where she was a member of the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus from 2000-2003, serving as director in her final year. After spending her twenties playing in a bluegrass band, studying yoga, and traveling, she returned to Yale for nursing school. She joined Kitka in 2015, and still can't believe how incredibly lucky she is to be able to sing this beautiful, powerful music with these beautiful, powerful women. In her spare time, she works as a family nurse practitioner in Oakland. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, their two young daughters, and their very sweet dog.
MACLOVIA QUINTANA
Maclovia Quintana was born and raised in northern New Mexico by artist/musician parents. She has been performing Balkan and Eastern European music since college, when she joined the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus. She sang with the Slavic Chorus for 10 years, and directed the group from 2010-2011. In 2012, Maclovia co-founded the Balkan band Orkestar BAM, which played for five years in the greater New York City area. She is also a percussionist, having studied doumbek with Polly Tapia Ferber and Faisal Zedan; she has taught beginning doumbek at the EEFC's West Coast Balkan Camp. When she's not playing music, Maclovia is the Director of People & Culture at Kitchen Table Advisors.
KATYA SCHOENBERG
Katya Schoenberg grew up in Berkeley, California and is honored to be back home singing with Kitka. Katya began her musical training at the age of eight as a part of the SF Girls Chorus where she went on to sing and tour with the group for a decade. She discovered Bulgarian singing at UCLA under Tzvetanka Varimezova, where she uncovered her passion for singing resonant low bass parts. She spent four years living in a magical community in New Orleans, where she was a founding member of Trendafilka and a guest singer with Blato Zlato, studying under Nadia Tarnawsky, Adilei, Donka Koleva, and other incredible teachers. When she is not singing, Katya works as an Emergency Room Nurse in the Bay Area.
STACEY BARNETT
Stacey Barnett is a recent transplant to the Bay Area as of 2022. She was born and raised in South San Diego. While attending Southwestern College and San Diego State University, she studied as many styles of singing and percussion as possible, eventually graduating with a Bachelor's degree in vocal performance from SDSU. During her studies, she became a member of Farhad Bahrami's Dornob Collective, an intercultural and intergenerational group that showcases various genres of Iranian music. After attending the Mendocino Balkan Music and Dance Camp in 2015, she connected with longstanding members of the folk dance and Balkan music communities in San Diego and became a member of the vocal group Trio Zheni, occasionally collaborating with Dromia. She was also fortunate to be a community engagement coordinator for the non-profit organization, Center for World Music, which allowed her to book top notch musicians to share music and dance from around the world with residents of affordable senior housing apartments. After learning so much from her friends and never dreaming of leaving her hometown, the opportunity to join such a well established and skilled group is sure to remain a beautifully surreal experience for a long while!
CHARLOTTE FINEGOLD
Charlotte Finegold grew up in Southern California and Central New Jersey, singing world folk music, opera, and choral music. She was properly introduced to Balkan and Eastern European music when she joined the Yale Women’s Slavic Chorus, which she directed from 2015 to 2016. In 2019, Charlotte sang with The Nightingale Trio on tours of Texas and Ireland. She has also sung with ensembles such as the Yale Camerata and Somerville College Choir at the University of Oxford. Charlotte is a third-year law student at Stanford Law School and is training to practice immigration and human rights law and to use the law to advance climate justice.
Associate vocalists
CAITLIN TABANCAY AUSTIN
Caitlin Tabancay Austin grew up in Berkeley, California, with her two sisters and parents of Irish and Filipino heritage. Inspired by a Kitka performance she attended as a kid, she joined Kitka in 2008. After jump-starting her lifelong choral addiction in the SF Girls Chorus, she completed her BA in Music History and began studying Bulgarian singing at UCLA. Curiosity in vocal theater led her to an artistic immersion program at Double Edge Theatre in 2012. She has directed the SFGC Camp Counselor Chorus, and she has sung with Euouae (Lacuna Arts), AVE, Saint Ignatius Church Motet Choir, More Than One, Axios, and SF Choral Artists. Currently she directs the Berkeley branch of the Kitka Community Chorus, teaches voice, and plays in local folk bands Iron Henry and the Austin Tabancay Family Band. She’s interested in art that involves sound and bodies. She’s training to become a bodyworker.
HANNAH LEVY
Hannah Levy joined Kitka in 2016 shortly after returning from a second international tour with Vermont-based folk choir Northern Harmony. She owes her passion for harmony singing to the musical communities she found early on through chorus with Penny Shultz, Village Harmony, and her family and friends. A musical omnivore, Hannah performs regularly around the Bay Area and beyond with her band Little Arcs. More information can be found at www.hannahlevymusic.com.
BARBARA BYERS
Barbara Byers grew up in West Virginia and Nepal with a family of rugged music loving mountaineers. After living and studying music in Indonesia, Turkey and the Bay Area, Barbara joined Kitka in ‘14 and developed a love of the music of the Balkans. She took a hiatus to acquire a PhD in Music from the University of California, San Diego ‘21, where she wrote and produced two original operas and performed locally and internationally in collaborative, experimental operatic works. Her peripatetic appetite settles for a time in Oakland, where, in addition to singing again with Kitka, she enjoys climbing, martial arts and getting out into the beautiful hills and parks that surround this special place.
BRIGET BOYLE
Briget Boyle’s background ranges from the folk music of the Balkans to the folk music that surrounds her on the West Coast of the United States. A prolific songwriter and guitar player, gifted vocal coach, and the founder of Unleash Your Voice, Briget joined Kitka in 2004 and served as the groups Ensemble Manager through 2013. She officially rejoined Kitka in 2020. Briget also sings and plays guitar with True Life Trio, a Bay Area–based group the features Kitka alum Juliana Graffagna and Leslie Bonnett. TLT delves deep into a vast array of folk music that lends itself to three-part vocal harmony. Always keeping busy, Briget also serves as the CEO and Creative Director of Waxsimile Productions a record label and production company that focuses on both profitable and equitable methods of creating musical products.
JULIANA GRAFFAGNA
Juliana Graffagna began her musical career at a young age, singing in church choir and studying classical piano. She then ventured on to musical theatre, women’s glee club, Russian language study, and the discovery of her passion for traditional music. Juliana has worked with Kitka for more than two decades, serving as music director. Juliana currently performs with the eclectic world music ensemble Janam and the True Life Trio. She is also a studio vocalist and voice/piano teacher.
LILY STORM
Lily Storm is a singer specializing in traditional music, with particular experience in Eastern European styles. She has studied with many traditional singers (Donka Koleva, Kremena Stancheva, Merita Halili, Mariana Sadovska, Christos Govetas, Carl Linich, Tzvetanka Varimezova, Radostina Kaneva, Tatiana Sarbinska), and has traveled extensively, living for some months in Hungary and Greece and visiting Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, and India. She also makes use of archival recordings to study ancient styles preserved into the early 20th century. In 2009 Lily released a debut solo album called If I had a key to the dawn: Love Songs and Laments from Eastern Europe, and is currently recording a collection of traditional lullabies from all corners of Europe. She also teaches, writes, and performs regularly with accordionist extraordinaire Dan Cantrell. Lily holds a Masters in Music (with emphasis on Kodály pedagogy) from Holy Names University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.
MICHELE SIMON
Michele Simon, a proud third-generation native Bay Arean, was raised surrounded by music: classical (especially Bach), popular (especially Ella, Frank Sinatra, and Margaret Whiting), and American folk music. She sang before she talked, played cello and guitar, and most formatively, enjoyed trading a capella harmonies with her mother’s rich alto. Her relationship with Balkan music started with folk dancing as a teenager; after a 20-year acting career, she joined Kitka in 1988, and then went on to the Balkan dance bands Anoush, Brass Menažeri, and Helladelics; as well as Zabava! Izvorno, with which she currently performs as a singer and drummer. She is a popular teacher of Balkan singing technique. She works as a bookkeeper, and lives in Oakland with her husband and daughter.
All seated and costumed Kitka photos by Vincent Louis Carrella; Briget Boyle and Juliana Graffagna photos by April Renae
SHIRA CION
Kitka’s Executive/Artistic Director Shira Cion was born in Hartford, CT, to an Eastern European Jewish family known for its compulsive harmonizing habits. Active as a performer, producer, arts administrator, and cultural worker since her teens, Shira received her musical education in classical performance (oboe and English horn), and ethnomusicology from the Hartt School of Music, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Wesleyan University, and Russia’s Moscow Conservatory. Her lifelong interests in traditional, contemporary, and women’s music have led her to work with The Women’s Philharmonic, New Music America Festival, The Music Research Institute, The Bay Area Music Archive/San Francisco Rock and Roll Museum, and on a wide range of collaborations with multicultural and multi-disciplinary artists. A resident of Kitkastan since 1988, Shira continues to be amazed every day by the unique challenges, unusual rewards, creative adventures, and inspiring community that manifest there.