Iavnana Ensemble, Carl Linich, Cantadora, and The Hot Clams

Name: Iavnana Ensemble, Carl Linich, Cantadora, and The Hot Clams
Start: 2025-11-07T19:00:00-08:00
Location: Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center, 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Schedule

Fri, 07 Nov, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC-08:00

Location

Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center, 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA | Berkeley, CA

The Iavnana Georgian Ensemble is a Kitka community choir dedicated to the performance of traditional polyphonic music from the Republic of Georgia, Lazona, and neighboring Caucasus, Black Sea, and Baltic regions. Comprised of the words “ia” (violet) and “nana” (mother goddess), the ensemble borrows its name from a type of healing song. Violets were often present in healing ceremonies, representative of joy and a euphemism for the goddess of the underworld in Georgian folk poetry. “Nana” is a derivative of the name “Inanna”—an ancient mother goddess found throughout the Near East. The project’s aim is to explore music as a form of healing and connection, both to each other as a community of practice, and to broader engagements with the cultures and communities from which we draw our musical content. Hosted by Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble, folklorist and vocalist Kristine Barrett directs the choir. Special guest Georgian folk song master Carl Linich* joins Iavnana for this performance.
Cantadora & The Hot Clams is a music collective featuring Kitka vocalist Kristine Barrett that presents sultry folk and jazz from Sephardic Spain, Italy, Greece, and Corsica, plus bossa nova and jazz manouche. The group is based in Marin County.
Tickets:
Advance: $20
Day of Show: $25
Student discount price: $15
Ashkenaz is all ages, all the time. Kids and minors are always welcome. Those 12 or under are admitted FREE (unless otherwise noted).
*Carl Linich leads a Community Georgian Folk Singing Workshop on November 9 from 4-6pm at Oakland's First Unitarian Church, 685 14th Street. For details, visit kitka.org/events.