The Center for World Music would like to alert our audience to the programs of the Folk Dance Center, a San Diego institution with which we’ve had a long relationship. In more cases than not, traditional music and dance forms are inseparable. The missions of our two organizations thus overlap to a great extent. We encourage you to check out their website, especially their monthly newsletters.
We will be promoting special programs of the Folk Dance Center via our Facebook page and other social media. We invite you to stop by their studio on 30th Street for one of their frequent folk dance sessions. Also, be alert for their many fine events and classes! See their current newsletter for details.
The Folk Dance Center (FDC) is a non-profit organization of amateur dancers with a common interest in folk dances from around the world. The FDC seeks to increase understanding of world folk dance and to preserve this rich resource for future generations. Membership is open to all.
Folk Dance Center
Dancing Unlimited
4569 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92116
Message phone: 619-281-5656 www.folkdancecenter.org
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cialis The Center for World Music congratulates board member Dr. Timothy Rice, who was awarded an honorary doctorate from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the oldest and most prestigious university in Bulgaria. The award recognized Dr. Rice’s decades of study of Bulgarian traditional music, song, and dance, and his efforts to bring it to a wider audience. “Dr. Rice is an esteemed ethnomusicologist,” said Rick Speer, who first reported this news on the East European Folklife Center message board, “and a fine musician himself!” The ceremony included a lecture by Dr. Rice on “Four Paradigms for Ethnographic Research on the Bulgarian Musical Experience.”
Upon receiving the award, Dr. Rice commented:
I do not have the words to express my sincere gratitude for this incredible honor. It is very personal and emotional for me because of my long love of Bulgarian culture and music. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
A long-time member of the Department of Ethnomusicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Dr. Rice has published numerous articles and books in his field. Among these contributions are his books May it Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music (Chicago, 1994) and Bulgarian Music: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (Oxford, 2003).
We at the Center for World Music are proud to have Dr. Rice as a member of our Board of Directors.
For further information on Tim’s career, please see:
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The Center for World Music would like to welcome Marie Hayes to our family of outstanding teaching artists in residence, joining our World Music in the Schools program.
Marie Hayes has been singing Balkan harmony music ever since she attended a Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble concert in Oakland in 1990. There were ten woman on the stage, elbows linked in a semi-circle, singing the most captivating music she had ever heard. She was also struck by the rich, refined choral style of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, whose music initially amazed her. Ultimately, it was this exciting and expressive nature of the “village voice” sound that drew her in.
It wasn’t long before she found friends in San Diego who wanted to join her. Their quartet, Harmonija, whose motto was “Harmony Music from the Balkans and Beyond,” entertained people for the next decade. They performed at coffee houses and parties, and gave many concerts for San Diego Folk Heritage, often teaching workshops at that organization’s annual music festival. Marie performed for ten years singing and playing percussion with Eastern Exposure, a Balkan dance band that played live music for folk dancers all over Southern California. She has recently formed a new a cappella vocal group, Trio Zheni, with singers Mary Ann Downs and Stacey Barnett.
As a teacher of Balkan singing, Marie’s main goal is to help students learn to listen to each other and work together to produce a sound they can be really proud of—and feel the thrill of hitting a perfect chord that makes the whole room ring.
Marie takes workshops and private lessons regularly from world-renowned singing teachers sponsored by the Eastern European Folklife Center. These include Bulgarians Donka Koleva, Tatiana Sarbinska, and Iliana Božanova, UCLA Balkan Choir Director Tsvetanka Varimezova (and her daughter Tanya), Bosnian Mirjana Lausevič, and Macedonian Esma Redžepova. She has also studied with American master teachers such as Mary Sherhart and Michelle Simon for Balkan singing, Canadian Brenna MacCrimmon for Turkish singing, Christos Govetas for Greek singing, and Polly Tapia Ferber for doumbek (drum) and frame drum. Because Balkan rhythms are varied and sometimes quite complicated, she finds that a knowledge of drumming is essential.
Marie has a degree in sociolinguistics from UCSD, where she also studied music. She has taught English as a Second Language at Miramar College, been a tutor for the Laubach Literacy program, and spent seven happy years as a teacher at Mission Bay Montessori Academy, where she loved teaching music and movement to the preschoolers in her class.
Photograph by Steve Gould
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Coverage of a Center for World Music Concert Series event, the International Folk Dance Clubs of Balboa Park’s Springfest 2015.
On a wood-floored ballroom in Balboa Park, a smattering of international folk dance enthusiasts paced their way Sunday through provincial traditions from Quebec, Scandinavia, Scotland, Romania and Greece.
“What makes it fun are the mix of rhythms,” said Diane Baker, a retired physical education teacher who traveled from Newport Beach to participate at the festival. “And you learn about the villages where it originated.”
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A must-see video if you haven’t seen it; wonderful to watch again from time to time if you have. Not traditional music, but otherwise embodies very nicely the spirit of the Center for World Music’s mission . . .
https://centerforworldmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/WTHIM1.jpg6271200Lance Nelsonhttps://centerforworldmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/logo_w_red_type_52.pngLance Nelson2015-02-24 20:46:172023-07-16 08:00:36Where in the World is Matt? An Uplifting Video
Martin Koenig, a good friend of the CWM, has spearheaded an extraordinary project to document disappearing music and dance cultures of the Balkans. His efforts are coming to fruition in the form of recordings (in partnership with Smithsonian Folkways), a book, and exquisite fine-art photographs. Very much worth the attention of lovers of traditional performing arts . . .
After my first visit, I felt an urgency to preserve the music and dance traditions that were disappearing throughout the country. I was driven by the goal of documenting and recording the traditional music and dance of each place I visited, by permanently memorializing them on 16 mm film stock and audiotape.
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Co-presented by the San Diego Master Chorale and the Center for World Music.
Rooted Voices is a collaborative series presented by San Diego Master Chorale and the Center for World Music, celebrating the power of traditional vocal music to connect us across cultures, generations, and lived experience.
The first program in the series, Rooted Voices: Bulgaria, features renowned Bulgarian folksinger Tzvetanka Varimezova in an immersive workshop exploring the distinctive sound, style, and spirit of Bulgarian vocal traditions. Participants will learn directly from a master artist through listening, call-and-response singing, and shared cultural context—no prior experience required.
About the Artist
Tzvetanka Varimezova is a renowned Bulgarian folkloric soprano, conductor, and educator, celebrated for her brilliant voice and deep knowledge of Bulgaria’s rich vocal traditions. Born into a musical family in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, she began singing and playing accordion at age nine and went on to master tambura (long-necked plucked lute) and piano.
Tzvetanka has performed and recorded internationally with Bulgaria’s top folk ensembles—including Trakija, Philip Koutev, and Cosmic Voices from Bulgaria—and has led choirs and workshops across Europe, Asia, and North America.
For two decades, Tzvetanka served as a professor in UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology, where she directed the Bulgarian women’s choir Superdevojche and inspired countless singers to explore the vibrant harmonies and ornamentation of Bulgarian folk music. She continues to teach and coach choirs around the world, sharing her passion for authentic vocal technique and cross-cultural connection.
Tzvetanka’s artistry has earned her numerous awards, including Bulgaria’s “Voice of the Year,” a National Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Presidential Badge of Honor for her impact on global folk music.
• The closest parking lots are Alcazar and Organ Pavilion. • Accessible parking is available in the Alcazar lot on the west side of the Museum. • New Balboa Park parking policies are in effect as of March 1, 2026. • Paid parking is enforced daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. • For details, please visit the Balboa Park parking website.
