Black Sea Hotel

Black Sea Hotel emerged in Brooklyn in the spring of 2007. Corinna, Joy, Sarah and Willa had been singing and performing Balkan music for some time. Inspired by each others’ distinct voices, they challenged themselves to form a quartet. In the process, they generated new shapes for many songs, aligning with tradition and taking new steps. They transformed songs typically sung by larger choirs and rearranged them for 4 voices. Solo or two-voiced village songs were rethought to accommodate the new dimensions of a quartet. With this orientation, Black Sea Hotel began writing their own arrangements of traditional melodies. With deep reverence to other arranging styles in the canon, they’ve found new ways to use melody, harmony and rhythm to tell ancient stories. Black Sea Hotel shares their music all over New York City in venues ranging from the Bulgarian Embassy to rock clubs. Their debut album contains the four songs featured on this page, and can be bought on CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/blackseahotel