Orkestar Bez Ime: The Music, The Stories

Balkan Party Music

Travel with OBI through the captivating music of the Balkan peninsula—including vibrant traditions of the Romany and Jewish people of Eastern Europe—peppered with band members’ personal stories behind the music. Even OBI regulars are likely to hear something new!

Colleen Bertsch

Scott Keever

Matt Miller

Katrina Mundinger

Natalie Nowytski

Eric Ray

Orkestar Bez Ime , meaning “orchestra without a name” in Bulgarian, was formed in 2002 to recreate the sounds of the village with a presentation as festive as the music itself. Focusing on Eastern Europe and music of the Rom (“Gypsy”) people, OBI’s repertoire reaches from Albania to Ukraine, with plenty of stops in between. Orkestar Bez Ime is a winner of the 2011-2012 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians administered by MacPhail Center for Music and a recipient of a 2012 Minnesota Emerging Composers Award from the American Composers Forum.

“Full-bodied, flavorful music.” –-Minnesota Public Radio