Mary Sherhart

Mary Sherhart is a singer, performer, and teacher, honored and accepted as a gifted singer in the traditional urban genre of Bosnia and Hercegovina, sevdah.

As part of her Fellowship’s Meet the Artist requirements, Mary held a public workshop on Balkan singing in cooperation with Centrum in Port Townsend. Mary gave the 40+ participants an overview of the rich variety of traditional Slavic singing styles found in the relatively small geographic area of the Balkans (which includes Bulgaria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia), as well as the opportunity to sing with live musicians. Mary taught two songs in depth, and distributed song sheets for additional songs that were spontaneously sung with the accompaniment of Mary’s group Balkan Cabaret. Each song sheet included notation, text, translation and background into the context and source of the song. She also provided complementary CDs of each workshop song. Later than evening, Mary and Balkan Cabaret performed at the Upstage Restaurant in Port Townsend where people experienced the music with friends, food and line dancing. The joy on everyone’s faces was tribute to the magic of music and community.