Meet Sababa
Did you miss our Spring 2010 Concert?
Karen Bernstein
Karen is a senior Journalism and Drama major from Charlotte, North Carolina. This is her fourth year as a member of Sababa. She considers herself to be an "arts-oriented" person - she dances and choreographs for Blank Canvas and is a troupe member in Interactive Theatre Carolina, where she promotes social justice through the portrayal of controversial situations on stage. Karen also Co-Chairs the Holocaust Education Project at Hillel, where she works with Jewish students and other campus organizations to enhance Jewish life. She's always getting involved in new projects - favorites include National Novel Writing Month and the Harry Potter Alliance - but working with Sababa for the past three years has definitely been one of the brightest highlights during her time at UNC.
Nick Dankner
Nick Dankner is a Freshman from Carrboro, North Carolina. Other than being an incredibly boring person and writing a very stereotypical bio for Sababa, which he joined this year, he enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee, composing and performing music, and doing things people often consider silly and foolish. At this point, his major is "undiscovered" and he has no clue what to do with his life.
However, he enjoys long walks in the moonlight and candlelit dinners.
Ilona Fleischer
Hailing from Washington DC, Ilona Fleischer brings her energy and love of music to the group. She is a Freshman, studying Math and Music. In addition to the time she spends singing with Sababa she is also a member of UNC's Color Guard. She loves turtles and Broadway music, and is very proud of her Finnish heritage!
Bryan Gaston
Though he was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana and was raised in Oxford, Mississippi, Bryan is thrilled to be at UNC singing in Sababa. He is currently a senior and is double-majoring in Sociology and Religious Studies and minoring in Music. When he’s not singing with Sababa, he can be found baking desserts in the microwave, riding his bike, enjoying organic dark chocolates, or tinkering with computers.
Amanda Goldfarb - Publicity Chair
Amanda Goldfarb is so excited to be in Sababa for her (and its) fourth year. She is a senior journalism (graphic design) major and history minor from Raleigh, NC. She is originally from Poughkeepsie, New York, but her complete inability to tolerate cold weather belies that fact. She adores watching Disney movies and taking pictures outside on beautiful days and wishes she had more time to do both. In her spare time, Amanda loves to hang out with friends and nap.
Becca Jaffe
Becca is a sophomore majoring in Psychology from Cary, North Carolina. She enjoys playing saxophone, dancing, ultimate frisbee, and spending time outside with friends. As someone that loves music and the great Jewish tradition, Sababa is an excellent fit, and Becca is excited to be sharing such a beautiful art form with such wonderful people!
Rebecca Kabatchnick
Rebecca Kabatchnick is so excited to be a member of Sababa in her first year at Carolina! She was born in Rockville, MD, grew up in Greensboro, NC, and has loved music and singing since she can remember! Rebecca is a Nursing major, and outside of Sababa, she can be found relaxing with friends, volunteering, writing, riding her bike all over campus, and just enjoying the sunshine outside.
Alyssa Kress
Jonathan Kropko
Jonathan Kropko is proud to be in his third awesome year in Sababa. Born and raised in Ohio, Jonathan sings tenor, goes swing dancing, roots for Carolina basketball, and generally enjoys being in a place that is not frigid cold. In his spare time, he is a grad student in political science...and a ninja.
Joe Levin-Manning
Joe is a senior Russian and East European Studies Major with a double minor in Music and History. He is involved with the UNC Men's Glee Club and UNC Ballroom Dance Team and serves as the Treasurer for both. He currently serves as a Co-President of Easing Abroad Student's Entry, and exchange student mentoring program and as a member of AIESEC an organization that promotes global awareness on campus. He is the Speaker of Student Congress, second year Congressman, first term Speaker. He is also a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. He enjoys writing music as well as dancing. He's a fun person to sit up and watch Disney movies with so please submit your requests online.
Danielle Litt
Danielle Litt is a senior at UNC Chapel Hill. She has been singing with Sababa since the groups founding and she has been singing in general-since before she can remember. She has never heard a person complain about her singing but that might be because she was singing over their complaints. Three of the most special places Danielle has sung have been: while dancing in a circle with other girls in front of the Kotel in Jerusalem, to welcome in Shabbat and, in the summer of 2008 when she swam in a six person relay across the English channel and the entire time she was in the 55 degree water had Rick Recht’s “The Hope” (Hatikvah) stuck in her head. Danielle loves singing because no matter what else is going on in her life she knows that it will always be there. This is also how she feels about the people in Sababa!
Randi Mackler
Randi is a First Year from Bellmore, New York. She is a Chemistry major on the biochem track, and she likes to volunteer. She spends time helping third grade students with mathematics, and also helps out at the inter-faith council. She currently makes up one fifth of the alto section. When she is not singing with Sababa, she spends time with her sisters in Sigma Rho Lambda, UNC's Jewish Interest Sorority.
"Life has to end, love doesn't."
Scott Neidich- Social Chair
Scott Neidich was discovered in 1995 when scientists extracted him from an iceberg floating off the shore of the Galapagos islands. Upon being thawed, several decades of genetic therapy yielded a somewhat-normal looking individual. They sent him back into the year 2008, where he joined an a capella group and began to pursue a degree in biology and chemistry, hoping to undo whatever those crazy scientists did to him; and possibly to become a doctor.
Jake Reardon - Secretary/Treasurer
Jake Reardon is a senior dramatic art major/chem minor from Roxboro NC. He is a returning Sababa singer and continues to add his bouncing energy to the group. He is also enjoying his third year as a Resident Advisor, this time in the Ehringhaus Community. Often distracted by Things in the Sky, trees, and anything colorful or shiny, he is hardly ever allowed to drive the group to a performance.
Danny Stellini - Music Director
Danny is a senior Music Education major from Colorado. He has been employed for the past eleven years as the Religious School Music Teacher at Congergation Beth Evergreen, Temple Beth Or, and Judea Reform. For the past five summers, Danny has worked in various roles at Shwayder Camp (a Jewish overnight camp in the Rockies), serving as the Head Song Leader, Specialist Coordinator and Develoment Director. Danny also enjoys conductiong for various musical theater productions on campus. He is the Assistant Orchestra Conductor fo the UNC Pauper Players, and this past fall he conducted the pit orchestra for Lab!Theater's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." This is Danny' s fourth year as Sababa's music director, and he is honored to be working with such a wonderful group of individuals. Aside from music he loves aviation; a passion that has followed him ever since he was young.
Matthew Wait
Matthew Wait is excited to begin his first year at Sababa. He is soon-to-be-super-senior majoring in physics with a minor in creative writing. Born in Chapel Hill but raised in Durham, Matt has been involved in music since middle school, when he joined the school chorus for no reason that he can readily remember. Fortunately, he was able to sing baritone/bass and continued his singing to the present. He considers joining a college a capella group to be the capstone of his vocal career. When not singing, he may be found listening to popular or classical music around campus, at which times he cannot hear any other human being. He is also involved in Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity, and BoUNCe, UNC's premiere satirical news magazine.
Victor Yamaykin - Administrative Director
Victor Yamaykin a.k.a the “Russian Percussion” is a tenor, a senior International Studies major from Cary, NC. He was born on Leap Day (February 29, 1988), which makes him five birthdays old and forever young. He listens to anything from classical to “gangsta folk” crossover. His favorite pastimes include running in the rain, cooking stir fry, and watching foreign films. He would wholeheartedly agree with this statement by Robert Frost: “A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.” He hopes to use learning, not just for good, but for awesome.
Adam Yosim
Adam Yosim is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When he is not engaging in academic endeavors, he spends his free time prestidigitating, working at ABC 11, and solving a rubik's cube over and over and over again. Adam's musical talents were discovered by past secretary/treasurer Alison Linas when she heard the Bass Master singing three octaves below everyone else during Friday Night Services. Mr. Yosim's future goals include being an anchor on ESPN, fulfilling the American dream of having 2.5 kids in suburbia, and conducting a scientific experiment to find out how many licks it actually takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop.
"I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I'm good at everything" - Demetri Martin
Jessie Zaleon
Jessie grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Following one year at the University of Georgia, she decided to return to UNC, where she is majoring in biology and Spanish. Jessie loves music and has always loved to sing. When she's not hanging out with Sababa, Jessie can be found teaching Hebrew school, working as a veterinary technician, or relaxing with friends.
www.nchillel.org/sababa
For general information, a list of songs in our repertoire, updates on upcoming event and important contact information, click the above link.
Also, you can watch us singing at: www.youtube.com/stellini06
