Za Vas Ot Nas – Album Launch

Dual ARIA winning world/jazz ensemble Mara! and the Martenitsa Choir launch their long-awaited album ‘Za Vas Ot Nas’ (For You From Us) at Marrickville’s iconic Camelot Lounge on Friday 28 November 2025.

The album celebrates 30 years of performing, recording and touring together as a combined ensemble, and features previously unreleased recordings of compositions and arrangements written especially for them by Mara! Band members and colleagues.

Fronting the choir will be Martenitsa’s extraordinary soloist Silvia Entcheva (Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, MARA! Big Band, Doch Gypsy Orchestra), along with Mara! band’s Sandy Evans, Paul Cutlan, Lloyd Swanton, Llew Kiek and, of course, Mara.

The repertoire includes works by Sandy Evans, Paul Cutlan, Laura Bishop and Llew & Mara Kiek. Two stunning works by Sandy Evans, Sъlzata na Klouna (Teardrop of a Clown) and Evkaliptov Sъn (Eucalyptus Dream) feature profoundly introspective lyrics by Bulgarian Australian poet Marcia Malinova-Anthony, and a third, Peperuda I Gъsenitsa (Butterfly and Caterpillar) showcases a delightfully playful poem by Silvia Entcheva. Her gently reflective poem Sbъdna Se (It Came True) is beautifully expressed in a lyrical miniature by Paul Cutlan.

You will hear two remarkable compositions by Laura Bishop (Chaika, London Bulgarian Choir), a wonderful young composer, arranger, performer and conductor who has been a cherished member of Martenitsa choir for many years. Her two stunning pieces Maika I Sin (Mother and Son) and Razdyala (Parting) both feature poetry by Stefan Kozuharov, who was a long-term friend and patron of Martenitsa and whose work features in our landmark suite Sezoni.

The album also features new arrangements of traditional Bulgarian songs (Sitno Hodi Nedo; Dimitro, Sino Dimitro & Devoiko Mari Hubava) by MARA! and Martenitsa’s multi award-winning directors Mara & Llew Kiek who have been arranging and composing music for both ensembles since their inception (including Sezoni suite, Tra Parole e Silenzio and Mara Kiek’s moving work Kъm Neizvestnoto for MARA! band with symphony orchestra, SATB choir and Bulgarian soloists.

Be there to experience lush vocals, virtuosic musicianship and blistering solos in a program stunningly unique and original compositions.

The Artists:

MARA! Quintet: Sandy Evans (saxophones); Paul Cutlan (clarinets & saxophone), Lloyd Swanton (double bass), Llew Kiek (plucked strings) & Mara (voice & percussion)

Martenitsa Choir with soloist Silvia Entcheva