Page 2 / MORE ART NEWS, REVIEWS AND THINGS TO DO : American Ingenuity : U.S. Women’s Ensemble Kitka Brings Its Command of European Vocal Stylings to San Juan Capistrano

Can American singers do justice to the traditional and contemporary music of Eastern Europe?

If longevity is any indicator, the a cappella Oakland-based group Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble has reason to smile. The all-female choir that began in 1979 as an informal, co-ed gathering of amateur singers called the Westwind International Folk Ensemble has evolved over its 20-year existence into a professional, critically praised women’s group known for its command of Balkan and Slavic vocal stylings.

The ensemble’s versatile repertoire ranges from strident chants sung in traditional village styles to more complex, modern choral arrangements from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania and Serbia. Singing in each song’s native language, Kitka, which performs tonight in San Juan Capistrano, sings songs that run a gamut from joy to melancholy to despair.

Diaphonics--the practice of singing a drone note while others sing chromatics around it--is the driving force behind songs that address work, courtship, marriage, longing and loss. The group also taps playful tunes such as “Ne Po Pogrebu Bochonochek,” which describes a young Russian couple spending their first night together.

The singers have done field research in many of the Eastern European countries where the material originated, and members also have worked with master singers such as Kremena Stancheva, soloist with Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, and renowned Russian folklorist and musicologist Izaly Zemtsovsky. Kitka, which means “bouquet” in Bulgarian, has collaborated with, among others, Hungary’s Marta Sebestyen and Musikas and the Yasha Turkish Music Ensemble.

Still, according to its co-director and longtime vocalist Shira Cion, Kitka’s authenticity has come into question at times.

“There’s always tension about all of us being Americans and specializing in music from somewhere else,” she said during a recent phone interview from the Kitka offices in Oakland. “I think that issue was really put to the test in 1991 when we were the first non-indigenous singers ever invited to the National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore.”

Cion remembers the performance, which was televised twice throughout Europe by Bulgarian National Television, as “nerve-racking yet ultimately rewarding.

“We were terrified,” said Cion, an oboe player who studied ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. “But the audience was literally moved to tears that Americans were so interested in their culture.

“It was like an affirmation of their roots and identity at a time, ironically, when American pop music had completely invaded their culture. I remember hearing Madonna and Michael Jackson [played] all over the radio there.”

Cion said each singer in Kitka brings a unique cultural and musical background to the ensemble. The current lineup has ethnic roots in Hungary, Greece, Ireland, Russia, Ukraine, Italy and China.

“A number of us are classically trained instrumentalists; some have backgrounds in theater and modern dance, while others are folk singer-songwriters and voice teachers,” she said. “Plus, our newest member, Lily Storm, has directed a Balkan and Slavic chorus. So it really is quite a diverse mix. But it’s a shared passion--rather than bloodlines--that brought us all to Kitka.”

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Kitka is on a mission to develop new audiences and expand the music’s reach.

“As part of our evolution, we’re simultaneously tapping into as well as stepping away from the source material,” said Cion, who’s been singing in Kitka since 1988. “We’re expanding the limits of the European folk-based singing tradition in several ways. For example, we have worked with contemporary composers [including David Lang, Katrina Wreede and Thilo Rheinhard] who have written original material for the group; and we’ve done a fair amount of cross-cultural collaborations rooted in the African American tradition.”

“In addition, we bring a modern American-feminist sensibility to our presentations. For instance, in some traditional wedding laments that we do, the woman is sold off or actually kidnapped,” she said. “We make clear in our introductions that we’re not endorsing the practice, which, sadly, still occurs in some parts of the world.”

Cion fell in love with the Eastern European vocal tradition while in college, when she heard the “dissonant, strident but sweet sounds” of two Bulgarian village-born singers, Kremena Stancheva and Vasilka Andonova. After receiving her music degree six months later, she moved to California and auditioned for Kitka. Two weeks later, Cion was a member.

Today she looks proudly on Kitka’s growth--the group has released four albums, including the new “Nectar,” toured internationally and sung for soundtracks of films including “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Braveheart”--and its staying power.

“To see what started out as an amateur ensemble, where singers were paid about $5 a performance, blossom into this . . . well, it’s quite miraculous,” she said. “The average tenure is about eight years, and right now, there are no original members in the ensemble. I think that’s a testament to how the group has really had a life of its own.”

* Kitka performs today at the Grand Assembly, Marina Pavilion, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Noon. Free. (213) 687-2159; also tonight at the South Coast Assembly, 31501 Avenida los Cerritos, San Juan Capistrano. 8. $5-$8 (949) 496-WMAS. Presented by the Multicultural Arts Society. Also Saturday at Cal State Northridge, Grand Salon/University Student Union, 18111 Nordhoff St. (Park in Lot C at Plummer and Zelzah streets, $3.) 8 p.m. $10 to $14. (818) 677-3943.