Beginner Balkan Singing with Thisbe Wu

Ever wanted to holler across a mountain top? To turn your speaking voice into a powerful singing voice? To learn close harmonies that vibrate the air around you? Learn Balkan folk singing in this beginner-friendly technique and harmony class. Traditionally sung in agricultural villages, the home, and at communal gatherings, this music carries powerful histories of survival and resistance with lyrics about loss, love, struggle, and fighting for one’s freedom while under occupation.

All voices and experience levels are welcome, whether you’ve always wanted to try singing, or you’ve been singing Bulgarian polyphony for years!

Thisbe Wu is a singer, instrumentalist, and visual artist from New York City. Her passion for Balkan folk singing began with the Yale Slavic Chorus, which she music directed, and the East European Folklife Center’s workshops. She has studied with expert singers from both the Balkans and US. She is excited about this singing tradition’s accessibility for untrained singers and its ability to build community and solidarity.

Despite the rising costs and lower funding streams that are affecting cultural institutions, Jalopy still wants to be a home for everyone seeking to learn and develop their musical practice. Therefore, this semester, we are offering the classes based on a sliding scale, inviting each student to choose a price based on their income level. Those of you who can afford to pay more than the breakeven cost, will be making it feasible for Jalopy to give scholarships to those who cannot afford the courses.

Please note that these numbers are only suggestions, and you are free to pay what feels manageable and appropriate for you based on all your life’s circumstances, not just annual income. As usual, you can inquire and apply for financial aid by emailing lynette@jalopytheatre.org.

Sliding Scale (based on annual income):
$0 – $20k / year: scholarship (partial or full depending on availability)
$20k – $30k / year: $393.75
$30k – $40k / year: $459.50
$40k – $50k / year: $525
$50k – $70k / year: $591
$70k and up: $656.25