Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble is an all-female professional vocal ensemble based in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and focused on Eastern European women’s vocal traditions. It was founded in 1979 as an offshoot of the Westwind International Folk Ensemble. Under the direction of Bon Singer from 1981 to 1996, Kitka became a professional ensemble specializing in the techniques of traditional and contemporary

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, Slavic, and

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

vocal styling. Under the co-direction of Shira Cion, Janet Kutulas and Juliana Graffagna since 1997, Kitka has been recognized by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

Chorus America
and th
American Choral Directors’ Association
The group takes its name from the word for "bouquet" in Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Discography

References

External Sources

* American folk musical groups Organizations based in Oakland, California Musical groups from Oakland, California {{US-folk-band-stub