FARMINGTON – The Maine Women’s Balkan Choir, which specializes in the traditional songs of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, will perform Saturday, Sept. 15, in Nordica Auditorium at the University of Maine at Farmington.

They will be joined by the Bar Harbor Folk Orchestra and special guest Elitsa Stonyeva, seven-time gold medalist Bulgarian folk singer.

A rich inheritance handed down from mothers to daughters to granddaughters, these songs hauntingly express the seasons of a woman’s life in the village. They are often sung to accompany work in the fields, spinning and sewing bees or dancing at joyous community celebrations. The unusually close harmonies, the melodies sung in unfamiliar minor or major seconds and the complex, mixed-meter rhythms may sometimes bewilder Western ears, but have a subtle and mysterious emotional impact on listeners.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and free for ages 16 and under. There are no advance ticket sales for this concert. For more information, call 645-2157.