Musician, composer and educator Ken Shorley, and author, dancer and print-maker, Heidi Kalyani have brought many wonderful musical and cultural experiences to our area. Deep Roots is proud this year to highlight Ken and Heidi’s ORO! Orkestra.
ORO! Orkestra plays the wild and beautiful folk dance music of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey and is made up of community members and Acadia University students. Their sounds are uplifting, easy, and social.
Ken Shorley is a musician comfortable in many styles and informed by multiple influences. He has studied (and continues to study) South Indian, Indonesian, Arab, Turkish and Western European musics. As a percussionist, he is drawn to forms of music that have a strong sense of groove or rhythmic drive. “My favourite instruments are the Turkish darabuka, Arabic riq, Sundanese kendang, and several types of frame drum, from tar to bodhran to kanjira.”
In recent years, Ken has appeared on stage with many of Canada’s finest performers, including vocalist/composer Suba Sankaran, mezzo-soprano Paula Rockwell, percussionist Patrick Graham, Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, Autorickshaw, El Viento Flamenco, Sanctuary Trio, Zingara, the Acadia Gamelan Ensemble, and the South Indian mrdangam virtuoso, Trichy Sankaran.
Ken is an active instructor and educator; as a member of the music faculty at Acadia University, he teaches courses in world drumming, gamelan, and advanced rhythm. Ken’s instructional DVD, Exploring the Drum, has been adopted as an “official” resource by Nova Scotia’s Department of Education.
Heidi Kalyani, the dance leader of ORO! Orkestra, doesn’t always play by “the rules”. Self-taught and self-expressing, Heidi values freedom, creativity, curves, beauty, depth and innovation.
The ORO! Orkestra members are:
Joe Armstrong (violin)
Marc Blumberg (accordion, mandolin, flugelhorn)
Cailun Campbell (double bass)
Eugene Cormier (guitar)
Liam Elliot (accordion, hand drums)
Susan Hauer (voice)
Heidi Kalyani (dance leader)
David Mangle (tuba, trombone)
Sarah McCabe (violin)
Ariana Nasr (soprano sax, voice)
Ken Shorley (saz, cittern, davul, darabuka)
Nicole Stanson (trumpet)
Come prepared to move and be moved by the captivating and sensual rhythms of ORO! Orkestra at the Market on Saturday afternoon and the finale at Festival Theatre Sunday.