The performers have been described as metallers, hippies and divas; their music as frantic, infectious and irrepressible, “played with an off-kilter sensibility by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica and a three-fourths Argentinian bass.”
Tonight, members of the Luminescent Orchestrii will bring their explosive union of Romanian Gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle to The Arts Center in Athens, Tenn. Theirs is the first performance in the Black Box Concert Series in the intimate Sue E. Trotter Theatre.
The four members of the Orchestrii come from very different music scenes in New York City. They joined together in 2002 because of their love for Balkan and Gypsy music.
Sxip Shirey (resophonic guitar, melodica, bullhorn harmonica) is an international circus composer. Sarah Alden (violin) is an old-time fiddle player. Rima Fand (violin, viola) is an experimental theater composer. Benjy Fox-Rosen (bass) is a jazz bassist.
IF YOU GO* What: Luminescent Orchestrii in concert.* When: 7:30 p.m. today.* Where: Athens Arts Center, 320 N. White St., Athens, Tenn.* Admission: $15 adults, $8 students.* Phone: 423-745-8781.* Website: www.athensartscouncil.org.
They have performed everywhere from folk festivals in Appalachia to punk clubs in New York City to a gypsy festival in Transylvania. They have three self-released albums to their credit.
“This is live music at its best, billed as music to make you dance, kiss and scream,” said a news release from program director Pat Armstrong.
WHAT CRITICS SAY
“A punky five-piece string band, The Luminescent Orchestrii plays renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and infectious to deeply melancholy. Its original compositions and varied interpretations of traditional melodies are like tiny, richly arranged musical adventures.”
— Time Out NY (New York City)
“The music makes your skin tingle and your eyes water, and never before have metallers, hippies and divas enjoyed the same gig so equally.”
— The Skinny Magazine (United Kingdom)
“There is a fine line between Gypsy music and punk rock, and the Luminescent Orchestrii falls off it every show. With three fiddlers, a bassist and guitarist who sweats enough for the five of them, the band stomps the stage, thumps their strings and saws into their instruments. These are believers.”
— Nonsense NYC (New York City)
” ‘Madcap ethnic dance music’ … Imagine Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks playing tangos in Budapest. … endless onstage energy, some truly romantic slow-dance numbers, quality musicianship and an adoring audience.
— Seven Days (Burlington VT)
“… there’s a frantic, salty and irrepressible stomp to the Balkan hoedown; thrust this in the blender with the inherent punk cool of New York’s underground scene, and you’ve a lit fuse for oblivion.”
— The List (United Kingdom)
“The balancing of frenzy and finesse is evidently a trademark Luminescent Orchestrii approach, displayed to its utmost in the insanely frenetic dance tunes … The three violins flirt willfully with a cacophony teasingly offset by elegant classical flourishes, swirling and eddying above the rhythm section’s bruisingly aggressive but sharply aimed attack.”
— The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland)