Medena Ensemble – Full Circle
June 21 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
$20 – $50
Aotearoa’s premier Bulgarian Folklore Vocal Ensemble, lead by Tui Mamaki, returns – offering a fresh collection of ancient melodies gathered on their recent trip to Bulgaria, with exquisite acapella arrangements, crafted for their unique blend of women’s voices.
Full Circle is the culmination of an important year of mahi, which saw the ensemble travel to Bulgaria for the first time together, to perform at the famed Koprivshtitsa Festival in collaboration with Yasna Voices from New York, and to study with some of the country’s finest folklore keepers and vocalists.
This concert will be an offering of livings songs, learnt in the living rooms, chitalishte (community halls), and on the mountain tops of Bulgaria. It is the culmination of a journey to the source. A vibrant feminine tapestry of traditional Bulgarian song, where classic folklore choral arrangements rub shoulders with rural treasures.
We invite you to celebrate with us at Tāmaki Makaurau’s beautiful Unitarian Church in Ponsonby, where voices make the wood sing, on Sunday 21 June, winter Solstice.
Who are Medena Ensemble?
Be it through classic folklore choir arrangements or obscure rural treasure songs issue of Tui Mamaki’s long standing love affair with Bulgaria and its phenomenal voices, this ensemble explore that compelling vocal tone, that bewitchingly close harmony, those playful odd-meter rhythms and the colourful feminine fabric of a devoted community blend. Medena means “honeyed”. Featuring Kate Bartlett, Julie Thompson, Stephanie Frost, Caitlin Dale, Petra Murray, Abby Turbott, Jacqui Whall, Mona-Lynn Courteau and Tui Mamaki.
Highlight performances to date include: Koprivshtitsa Festival (Bulgaria) and Ellen Melville Centre 2025, Auckland Folk Festivals 2024-26, World Choir Games, VoCo and Unitarian Church, in collaboration with the Bulgarian Roses, 2024.
