The Balkan Sound with Matt Moran of Slavic Soul Party

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | Balkan Music Ensemble Speaker Series presents

The Balkan Sound: Arranging, Composing and Performing
with Matt Moran, Percussionist & Leader of Slavic Soul Party
VIRTUAL EVENT

To RSVP and request Zoom link, email josephalpar@bennington.edu

Matt Moran is the Director of Slavic Soul Party, an American Balkan brass and jazz band based in Brooklyn. He will talk about techniques of arranging and composing for contemporary Balkan ensembles, discussing his own work as director and percussionist for Slavic Soul Party, a Brooklyn brass band combining Romani, klezmer, funk, New Orleans jazz influences and more in their music. An accomplished tapan player (large double-headed drum), Moran will also introduce us to some additive meters and rhythmic patterns common in Balkan music.

Vibraphonist and tunesmith Matt Moran "plays the vibraphone like a speed-chess master, always darting off into flurries of ingenious, unexpected activity" (Village Voice). Although he was named "Rising Star" on vibraphone by the 2014 Downbeat Critics Poll, Moran is just as often known for his work as the drummer and bandleader for brass band Slavic Soul Party! His career exists in diverse musical environments, from chamber music to jazz to Balkan folk music, and evinces a dedication to music education for incarcerated people.

Moran has released 10 albums as a leader, and performed on nearly 100 albums by other artists, including Sufjan Stevens, Theo Bleckmann, William Parker, Ellery Eskelin, and Luciana Souza. His longtime collaboration with percussionist/composer John Hollenbeck has been documented on 8 recordings by Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet as well as recordings of his Large Ensemble and chamber music. Lengthy relationships are a hallmark of Moran's style: in addition to Slavic Soul Party!'s 20 years of https://www.facebook.com/events/534923590792818/music making, he has worked for many years with the artists Nate Wooley, Curtis Hasselbring, Daniel Levin, Brian Shankar Adler, Peter Hess, Raif Hyseni, Bojan Vuletic, and Mat Maneri.

For the past decade, Moran has been an educator and performer for Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, with a special focus on education, creation, and performance for New Yorkers in many different parts of the judicial system. Currently he co-leads Carnegie Hall's music education program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

Moran has a Master's degree in jazz composition from New England Conservatory where he studied with composer and improviser Joseph Maneri, and a Bachelor's degree in jazz composition from Berklee College of Music where he studied with Ed Saindon and Gary Burton.

http://www.mattmoran.com
http://slavicsoulparty.com


As part of Bennington's Balkan Music Ensemble course, this series presents a variety of virtual talks, demonstrations and mini-concerts to enrich our understanding of music and culture in the region.

For  more information, please see the Facebook Event