Guest Musicians Winter Weekend 2024

Bill Cope has the honor this year of putting together our house band, Orkestar Unbound, for the fourth year in a row! Bill is a multi-instrumentalist who is drawn to play music w/o borders, that will get people on their feet, dancing!

Orkestar Unbound will once again be hanging out together at the Cope-a-cabana, eating, drinking, talking and best of all, getting to play music for your dancing pleasure, live!

Please see Cope-A-Cabana and Kolo Festival for more info about what he’s up to!
Want an Orkestar Unbound t-shirt? Buy t-shirts and swag here.
Visit Bill’s website for Balkan Noyz Boyz CDs, Orkestar Unbound swag, and lots of other free stuff.!

Let Bill know what dances you want him to play at the Stockton WW dance voting site!

Alaskan grown Janie Cowan is in love with the double bass. Begining Suzuki piano at age four and then finding the double bass at age ten, she pursued all avenues of study available and eventually won a scholarship to attend the Oberlin Conservatory. There she learned from such luminaries as Jamey Haddad, Eddie Gomez and Billy Hart. She now has accrued a vast and diverse resume of performances with international folk groups, desert rockers, songwriters, ambient sonic explorers and as a solo artist. She has been lucky to share the stage with such luminaries as Bennie Maupin in Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra, Bob Dylan in Shadow Kingdom, Victoria Williams and late great saxophone legend Ralph Carney. Residing in Pioneertown, California, Janie is proud to be part of the high desert experimental music community and finds inspiration in the intersection of the new and the old, her own voice present throughout.

Check out Janie’s website!

Asaf Ophir began his career as a woodwind player in musical theater, performing on some of the most distinguished stages in Israel. Currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ophir is often invited to collaborate with artists from a wide variety of cultures, including Jewish, Arabic, European, Persian, Kurdish, and others. Equally at home with classical, jazz, and world music, Ophir has shared the stage with Miri Mesika, Avi Kushnir, Galit Giat, David De’or, Ustad Mahwash, Rana Farhan, and Barbara Streisand.

Check out Asaf’s website.

Known for her eclectic musical repertoire, contagious smile and never-ending enthusiasm, Amberly Rosen started playing violin when she was three and started fiddling soon after. She was exposed to International Folk Dance and music very early in life and loves all the odd time signatures! She graduated from Berklee College of Music, Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance.

Performing with diverse musical acts such as Paul Simon, Terri Clark, Christopher Guest, Orla Fallon, Maddie & Tae, Gloria Estefan, Ruthie Collins, The Carmona’s, Jerry Vandiver, Ashleigh Caudill, Jeff Clayborn, Tansova Grupa, Bill Cope (Black Sea Surf, Zabava, Orkestar Unbound, Kolo Festival Band and more!), The Rosen Sisters as well as many others, Amberly has toured the U.S. and abroad including such venues as The Grand Ole’ Opry and The Late Show with David Letterman. From 2017-2019 she was the featured fiddler on the evening show of the General Jackson showboat in Nashville, TN.

Off stage, Amberly was awarded a scholarship to the Nashville Suzuki Institute at Blair School of Music in 2019 where she studied violin pedagogy. She currently enjoys teaching private virtual and in person lessons and group classes for violin/fiddle students ranging from 3-80 years young and is taking new students. She also teaches beginning international folk dancing to young kids and seniors. Music comes in all tones and time signatures and Amberly enjoys bridging the gaps between classical, bluegrass and traditional international folk music from around the world.

Check out Amberly’s Facebook page

Emily was raised by folk dancing parents in the Boston area and the Pacific Northwest and is thrilled to be joining the dance community in California. They are now an undergraduate at Stanford University, where they also teach an introductory folk dance course and partner with Richard to teach social dance. Favorite credits in the Bay Area include performing with contemporary circus company Circa and recording vocals for the premiere of “with” at ODC Dance. This year you will also find her singing in Orkestar Unbound. Infinite thanks to their dad, Tony Saletan, for his compassionate legacy of arts education.