May 28, 2026

The audience would never have guessed how they would be transported to a raucous family party in a small village, a moment of solemn reverence, or a night club in a far-flung city. 

The program listed a diverse selection of 20 songs, explained by master showman, ethnomusicologist, percussionist, faculty member in Music, and ensemble director Dr. Joseph Alpar in the opening moments of the show. The combination of folk and pop music came from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey, along with a couple songs from Russia. 

The program also listed an impressive array of 25 vocalists and instrumentalists who make up the Balkan Ensemble. Many played multiple instruments or played an instrument in addition to singing. Guests, who included faculty members and a few cherished seniors returning to the group or playing instruments they had studied during their time at Bennington, entered and exited throughout the performance. 

Throughout the evening, several students were revealed to have heritage related to the music being performed. 

“I am a Romanian woman singing this Romanian song,” said Bianca Burz ’26, who sang “Sahraiman,” an obsessive love song punctuated with long melodic phrases and accompanied by, along with the musicians of the ensemble, guest musicians faculty member John Kirk on fiddle and Rachel Clemente on lever harp. 

Alpar thanked staff member Elio Jahaj ’18, who is from Albania, for his help in translating and interpreting a heart-stopping a cappella “isopolyphonic” piece from Albania called “Shkjojnë Edhe Vijnë.” It ended with thunderous applause. 

Whether the musicians had brought their love of Balkan music to Bennington or had fallen in love with it through the Balkan Ensemble, their devotion was clear. The students on the risers and with instruments in their hands danced as they performed, often eyes closed with feeling. 

Either Dr. Alpar or the soloist for each tune explained its meaning. Love-sickness was a common theme. The characters of the music were often inquiring about handsome or beautiful strangers, contriving reasons to meet, either yearning to be married or lamenting being married, or trying to wash their heart-stricken feelings away in the waves of the ocean. Before her solo, commanding singer Nina Jevtinijevic ’28 quipped that hers was one of the rare happy love songs in the bunch. 

Truly, strong voices were in abundant supply. Adriel Benko ’25, Scarlett Choi ’28, Ruth Bailey-Fogarty ’26, Bianca Burz ’26, Lucas Guin ’27, and Atlas Seres ’26 each gave performances that were powerful and stirring. Their voices cut through rich arrangements by a band of twelve talented instrumentalists. 

For the last song before intermission, Alpar invited everyone up to learn the steps to a Greek folk dance called a Hasaposerviko. Hand in hand, laughing together, dozens of Bennington community members danced exuberantly in an open circle around the mostly empty chairs as the music got progressively faster and more frenzied.

In the second half, Alpar encouraged dancing again, this time to a Turkish pop song. 

Many members of the audience abandoned their shoes and danced in the wide aisles to the left and right of the room. 

“This is music that needs to be danced to,” he said.