Živio Band Biographies

 

 

 

bullet Mike Adams- Mike has been with the band for over 10 years.  He plays a Kaval: this is a Bulgarian shepherd’s flute, which is wooden and requires that the player blow on a simple hole at the end, a technique that takes a great deal of skill and practice. He also plays a Brac, a Serbo-Croatian Tamburitza instrument.

 

bullet Don Beckwith- Don has been with the band for over 7 years.  He plays a Prim, a Serbo-Croatian Tamburitza instrument, and a Bulgarian Tambura, a guitar-like instrument.

 

bullet Karen Bradakis- Karen has been with the band and the dancers for over 20 years. She plays Tupan, which is a Bulgarian two-headed goat skin drum, dumbek, a small ceramic drum, and bugaria, a rhythm Tamburitza instrument (not to be confused with "Bulgaria").

 

bullet Ann Kelly- Ann sees Zivio as her adoptive family; when she first moved to Salt Lake City, the group (then called Folkdance Underground) took her in and acted as her support base. She joined the group as a performer shortly thereafter. They trained her in Balkan singing, and she has done vocals with them ever since. Ann was part of Živio's Hungary tour.

 

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Sarah Miller- Sarah, who began as both a dancer and a singer, was one of the founding members of the group. Eventually she decided to concentrate on vocals, which is where she remains today. Her introduction to folk music and dance actually began through Irish dancing: there, she met another current member of the band named Jim Stringfellow, who introduced her to Balkan singing and dancing. She was with the group during both international tours to Poland and Hungary.

 

bullet Shireen Mooers- Shireen joined Zivio in the fall of 2001. She plays the accordion and penny whistle. She also runs the Folk Music Center in Holladay (277-9991), which provides folk dance studio space, classes, and acoustic music lessons (mandolin, accordion, guitar). Shireen loves difficult parts and beautiful folk melodies.

 

bullet Pam Poulson- Pam has been with the band for over 10 years.  She plays the bass and provides a few sound effects during select songs.

 

bullet Jan Root- Jan has been with the band for over 10 years and currently serves as Živio’s Music Director. She plays a Prim (a Serbo-Croatian Tamburitza instrument), a Macedonian Tambura, and a Gudulka, which is a Bulgarian bowed instrument with 13 strings. In addition to all of this, she is the primary vocalist.

 

bullet Jim Stringfellow- Jim has been a dancer and singer with the group for over 25 years. He currently plays the Bazouki, which is a Greek stringed instrument, and sings vocals.