Mark Samuels
Mark
Samuels’s has enjoyed music and dance of the Balkans for over 20
years. He was a member of the Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble of Boston, with whom he danced at
Rattviksdansen Folk Festival in Sweden, and at Carnegie Hall. He was also a guest artist in the
Bosilek Bulgarian Dance Ensemble of New York. He took up Macedonian tambura in 1988 and studied
under Alan Zemel and Bill Cope. In 1990 he studied
with Dragan Dautovski in Struga, Macedonia and
toured with the Tomov Dance Ensemble. He was a member of the Izgori Macedonian Music Ensemble
from 1990 to 1996, and performed at numerous music and dance events throughout the northeastern
U.S. He performed in Janam of Salt Lake City, playing music of Turkey, Greece, Iran, and
Afghanistan on saz, ud, and Afghan rebab. He has taught Macedonian tambura at
East Coast Balkan Camp and at
Balkanalia. He now plays music of Greece, Turkey and the
Balkans in Musiki Parea and Grupa Dunbarov of Vancouver, Canada.