St. Nicholas Serbian Tamburitzans celebrate 60th anniversary with show in McKeesport

A performance six decades in the making will soon take place at McKeesport Area High School.

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the St. Nicholas Serbian Tamburitzans.

Current members and alumni will take the stage at 1960 Eden Park Blvd. around 3 p.m. April 22. The show features songs and dances from Serbia, Italy and Greece.

A procession of past performers is expected to take place at the start with an arrangement by Tamburitzan alumnus Steve Capuzzi.

Danny Kukich, his grandfather, founded the group in 1963 at St. Nicholas Serbian Church in Wilmerding with the mission of perpetuating Serbian heritage. His wife, Ann Kukich, served on the executive board.

The family’s next generation will make its debut in McKeesport with Capuzzi’s daughter Nikolina, 6, having her first performance.

“I’m excited, but I’ve been doing this a long time,” said Capuzzi, 42, of Upper St. Clair. “A little bit nervous with my daughter’s first year in the group. It’s my first year of being a Tamburitzan dad. This is the first year where I have to help from a logistics angle. It takes a lot for (a show) to come together.”

The Tamburitzans were at the Wilmerding church for several years before moving to St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in Monroeville. It was primarily an orchestral group in the early stages.

Capuzzi, a former music director, said one of the reasons it was successful and lasted for generations was the support of the church, its Sunday school program and a church mothers’ group.

“That was probably the recipe of really getting something together, because it was starting to play and perpetuate the Serbian music as well as dance,” he said. “It needed those pillars for it to succeed.”

Family connections

The first year of graduating seniors was 1968, including Capuzzi’s mother, Donna. His siblings Milana Popovic, Sonja Miskovic and Danny Cappuzi are also Tamburitzans alumni.

Martha Kukich-Steen, their aunt, also participated for several years.

Capuzzi could not recall any shenanigans, as brothers and sisters tend to get into, when it came to practices and performing.

“It gives you a sense of accountability,” Steve Capuzzi said. “You’re going to be on time for the practices. It’s a big commitment. It gives you a sense of accomplishment whenever all is said and done. It’s a huge sense of accomplishment that you’ve achieved this.”

Those same skills and discipline can serve students when it comes to work and other schooling.

“You have to be assertive in front of a crowd,” said Capuzzi. “You have to be able to get up in front of people and perform. This is a great foundation to start that. If you come prepared and you execute it, it’s going to be rewarding. That’s a great thing for these kids to learn.”

Alexis Janiga, 49, of North Huntingdon was with the Tamburitzans from 1978 to 1991. Her mother, MaryAnn Tomich, was president of the group but not a performer.

Janiga sees the 60th-anniversary show as an opportunity to pay homage to everyone who has played a role in the group’s history and celebrate its future.

“You’re always wanting to move forward and move ahead and try to make things better,” she said. “I think you have to remember and honor and look backward to see what came before you to allow us to be in the position we’re in.

“That’s honoring the kids who have come through, the instructors, the parents who have worked very hard for 60 years. For more than half of my life, I’ve been in our church hall on a Monday night. Whether it’s being a kid or as a parent. I think it’s been 27 years so far.”

Janiga’s daughter, Maria, is in her 11th year with the Tamburitzans.

“It’s heartwarming to know that she’s putting the effort in, because she also finds her culture and her heritage and her faith important,” Janiga said.

Preservation importance

Tamburitzans not only entertain and learn about responsibility, but the group serves as a way to preserve a culture and heritage as the music and steps are passed on from generation to generation.

“It’s easy to get assimilated into American culture and not know who you are or where you come from,” Capuzzi said. “Where your grandparents and great-grandparents came from and the music they listened to and culture they celebrated: Having this institutionalized type of group to perpetuate that is really important. One of the founding pillars of it is the importance to keep the tradition going.”

Alumni at the McKeesport show will perform a song that translates into “Christ is Risen, Let Us Rejoice” in honor of the Serbian Orthodox Easter, April 23.

“We’re doing everything we can not to lose our Serbian roots,” Janiga said.

There are scholarship opportunities for Tamburitzans to go to college.

Capuzzi was able to earn one of those and became a pharmacist through Duquesne University.

After party

St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in Monroeville will host a dinner and dance after the concert at 2110 Haymaker Road. Festivities are expected to start around 6 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 6-17. Children ages 5 and younger are free.

Different types of Serbian food at the reception include cevapi, lamb sandwiches, Serbian potato salad with oil and vinegar dressing, šopska salad, and krofne or homemade dougnuts, plus a variety of homemade baked goods. Costumes from previous years will be on display.