We are super-psyched to welcome this NYC based Balkan/Gypsy/Klezmer/Punk experience to the Chilly Ranch for the first time.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.

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 (NYC, NY)

“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, UK

There’s only a scant degree of separation between Romanian gypsy music and punk rock, according to Luminescent Orchestrii, a New York-based group featuring no less than three violinists. Sure antique novelty music is all the rage–wasn’t the old country a gas?–but this quintet can actually boast among its ranks two bonafide circus escapees and a former member of a Balkan woman’s choir…rounding out their street smarts with stage cred in Goth bands, free-jazz collectives and opera companies.

The seven tracks on Luminescent Orchestrii’s recent live recording (of a show in Brooklyn) demonstrate that they love to play Eastern European rhythms, hip-hop and about eight other recognizable genres. Imagine Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks playing tangos in Budapest. Their live CD is testament to endless onstage energy, some truly romantic slow-dance numbers, quality musicianship and an adoring audience.
-Seven Days (Burlington VT)

LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII IS: Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle, all eaten and spit out by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica and bass.

The members of the Orchestrii come from different scenes in New York City, yet come together through their love of Balkan and Gypsy music. Sxip Shirey is an international circus composer, Sarah Alden is an old-time fiddle player, Rima Fand is an experimental theater composer, and Benjy Fox-Rosen is a free-jazz bassist. It is not uncommon to find Sxip playing tampon applicators with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Rima composing music for a Lorca puppet show, Benjy schlepping his bass to a jazz gig, or Sarah fiddling away at some all-night old-time session.

Since 2002, when the band was formed, the Luminescent Orchestrii has toured the East Coast, England, Scotland, and Germany, and have traveled to Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia for inspiration. They most recently returned from Serbia’s DragoÄevo Trumpet Festival, a 47-year-old festival that takes place in the small town of GuÄa, where hordes of competing gypsy brass bands take to the streets and restaurants.