A BALKAN JOURNEY by the Orfeia Vocal Ensemble

8 pm on Friday, Jan. 24

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, MD

Free concert with $10 suggested donation

Have you heard the complex rhythms and beauty of Balkan music? Expand your musical horizons at A Balkan Journey where the Orfeia Vocal Ensemble will lead a magical journey through the rich musical heritage of the Balkans, famous for its sharp dissonances, haunting lyricism, and asymmetric rhythms. Orfeia will share its extensive repertoire, spanning the Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Roma traditions by situating each song in its unique cultural context. The audience can join in by learning a traditional Bulgarian village song.

Founded in 2006 by the legendary Bulgarian folk singer Tatiana Sarbinska, Orfeia is an all-woman vocal ensemble dedicated to preserving and sharing traditional music from Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, ranging from traditional village songs to sacred chants from the Middle Ages to today.

This concert was organized by the City’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series. Please sign up for our weekly e-newsletter to learn more about all of our upcoming FREE events, including concerts, theater, poetry readings, art exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, and more!

Nature Revisited Art Exhibition

On view until Jan. 2, 2020

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue

If you haven’t seen the Nature Revisited exhibition at the Takoma Park Community Center, you only have a few weeks left! The exhibition will be on view until Jan. 2, and you can see the art and hear the artists talk about their work in this Youtube video.  Three photographers and a mixed-media artist offer surprising views of landscapes from across the world, casting nature through a different light. The artists include Rachel Ann Cross, Michael Duncan, Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy, and Peter Stern.

In her Sacred Treks series, Cross has painted elements from her epic hikes, including more than 500 miles along the centuries-old Camino de Santiago in France and Spain. A retired optical scientist, Michael Duncan has developed astrophotography with long-exposure night photos that bring constellations and galaxies to life in the Southwest.

Sarkozy-Banoczy documents communities and habitats across the world that are severely affected by climate change, including dwindling fishing villages in Newfoundland. As an ultralight plane pilot, Stern takes takes low-altitude landscape photos that resemble abstract paintings, including images of environmental devastation in Pennsylvania mine country.

Image: Fading by Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy

The City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series is seeking submissions from artists and artist groups for group exhibitions in the galleries at the Takoma Park Community Center in 2020-21. Applicants don’t have to be Takoma Park residents and there is no fee to apply. Please use the online application form before the Jan. 20 deadline. You also can find more info about our art exhibition series here.

We also are seeking submissions from filmmakers for future film screenings in the Takoma Park Community Center auditorium. Applicants don’t have to be Takoma Park residents and there is no fee to apply. Filmmakers are paid a $100 honorarium after the screening. Please use the online application form before the Jan. 20 deadline.

An Evening with Georges Collinet and Samba Mapangala 

Nov. 22 at 8 pm

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue

Free event with $10 suggested donation

Legendary radio broadcaster Georges Collinet, aka Maxi Voom Voom from VOA and Afropop Worldwide, will share rare unseen footage and stories from his 50 years covering African music and culture. Then Congolese master vocalist Samba Mapangala will join DC Highlife Stars for musical interludes and an acoustic set to end the evening.

Eme and Michael from Takoma Radio’s Jolly Papa Show will host the event and lead the band through their unique blend of classic highlife and rumba along with some newer dance hits. The concert, which is sponsored by the City’s Takoma Park Arts series, is free and no tickets are required. There is a $10 suggested donation to support the performers. Don’t miss this one-night-only event!

Third Thursday Poetry Reading

Nov. 21 at 7:30 pm

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue

Please join us for our next installment in the popular Third Thursday Poetry reading series. Four local poets will read their work on a variety of themes with a reception following the reading. The poets include Judith Bowles, Jona Colson, Kristin Ferragut, and NaBeela Washington. This free event is sponsored by the City’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series.

Bowles earned her MFA at American University where she taught creative writing. Colson’s first poetry collection, Said Through Glass, won the 2018 Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House. Ferragut’s poetry has been published in several journals, and she is a regular contributor at open mic poetry nights. Washington is pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing and poetry at Southern New Hampshire University.

NATURE REVISITED OPENING RECEPTION

Nov. 14 at 7 pm

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue

In the Nature Revisited exhibition, three photographers and a mixed-media artist offer fresh and surprising interpretations of landscapes from across the world, casting nature through a different light.

Please join us for a free opening reception at 7 pm on Nov. 14 at the Takoma Park Community Center where you can see their work and meet the artists, including Rachel Ann Cross, Michael Duncan, Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy, and Peter Stern.

In her Sacred Treks series, Cross has painted elements from her epic hikes, including more than 500 miles along the centuries-old Camino de Santiago in France and Spain. A retired optical scientist, Michael Duncan has developed astrophotography with long-exposure night photos that bring constellations and galaxies to life.

Sarkozy-Banoczy documents communities and habitats across the world that are severely affected by climate change, including dwindling fishing villages in Newfoundland. As a small plane pilot, Stern takes low-altitude landscape photos that resemble abstract paintings, including images of environmental devastation in Pennsylvania mine country.

Image: Fading by Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy