Shira Cion is the Executive and Artistic Director of the renowned Bay Area women’s ensemble Kitka. Shira was born in Hartford, CT, to an Eastern European Jewish family known for its compulsive harmonizing habits. Active as a performer, producer, arts administrator, and cultural worker since her teens, Shira received her musical education in classical performance (oboe and English horn), and ethnomusicology from the Hartt School of Music, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Wesleyan University, and Russia’s Moscow Conservatory. Her lifelong interests in traditional, contemporary, and women’s music have led her to work with The Women’s Philharmonic, New Music America Festival, The Music Research Institute, The Bay Area Music Archive/San Francisco Rock and Roll Museum, and on a wide range of collaborations with multicultural and multi-disciplinary artists. A resident of “Kitkastan” since 1988, Shira continues to be amazed every day by the unique challenges, unusual rewards, creative adventures, and inspiring community that manifest there. Kitka’s latest album, Kolo, features songs from Ukraine, Serbia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Corsica, and other European countries. The interview includes excerpts of several of the songs on the album.
