Luminescent Orchestrii is: Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle, all eaten and spit out by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica, and bass.
Luminescent Orchestrii is: Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle, all eaten and spit out by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica, and bass.
The members of the Orchestrii come from different scenes in New York City, yet come together through their love of Balkan and Gypsy music. Sxip Shirey is an international circus composer, Sarah Alden is an old-time fiddle player, Rima Fand is an experimental theater composer, and Benjy Fox Rosen is a free-jazz bassist. It is not uncommon to find Sxip playing tampon applicators with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Rima composing music for a Lorca puppet show, Benjy schlepping his bass to a jazz gig, or Sarah fiddling away at some all-night old-time session.
Since 2002, when the band was formed, the Luminescent Orchestrii has toured the East Coast, England, Scotland, and Germany, and have traveled to Romania, Macedonia, Turkey, and Serbia for inspiration, including Serbia's Dragočevo Trumpet Festival, which takes place in the small town of Guča, where hordes of competing gypsy brass bands take to the streets and restaurants.
The Luminescent Orchestrii has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK), The Spitz (UK), The Blue Note (Germany) , Malzhauz (Germany), The Trowbridge Festival (UK), The Orkney Islands (UK), The Penn State Arts Festival (USA), The Lake Eden Arts Festival (USA), The Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival (USA), The Knitting Factory (NYC), Joe's Pub (NYC), The DUMBO Arts Festival (NYC), The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and many underground parties in New York City.
