The extraordinary clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski is a musical force of passion and dynamic virtuosity. Already of international distinction, Lumanovski has launched a major career as a soloist, chamber musician in both classical and Balkan styles. Blending the fiery spirit of folk music with the discipline of classical music, his performances throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Korea and China have received uproarious critical acclaim. Lumanovski performs internationally, leads the New York Gypsy Allstars, and is perhaps the first Roma clarinet player to graduate from the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Time Out New York remarked that he’s "A showboat of a performer . . . an adventurous, modern-minded front man," while the New York Times has waxed poetic about his musical prowess. 

With up to 14 musicians (12 horns and 2 percussionists), Bay Area-San Francisco-based Inspector Gadje brings a big sound to the beautiful and bumpin’ brass band music of the Balkans of south-eastern Europe. Hearing Inspector Gadje is love at first listen. The driving, tight groove of low brass and drums with soaring melodies from trumpets, saxophones, and clarinet incite joy and dance from the very first downbeat. Inspector Gadje ignites the dance floor and makes the party wherever they play, be it clubs (including notable venues such as the MGM Arena, Fox Theater, Palace Of Fine Arts, The Independent, Ashkenaz, Café du Nord, The New Parish, Rickshaw Stop, and Yoshi’s to name a few) weddings, parties, and street festivals. Original inspiration for the group came from many years of collaboration between the Brass Liberation Orchestra (BLO), a progressive social activist street band, and the Voice of Roma, a non-profit organization that supports Romani community and cultural causes world-wide. 

Watch collaborations between Ismail Lumanovski and Inspector Gadje on Inspector Gadje's YouTube channel →

This event is presented in conjunction with The Materiality of Resistance, a two-day symposium exploring the artistic deployment of materials as tools to imagine, promote, and enact resistance to the status quo in American art and visual culture. The performance is funded by an endowment gift to support The Deborah and Kenneth Novack Creative Citizens Series at CCA, an annual series of public programs focused on creative activism.