Kossoy Sisters

Infobox musical artist
Name = Kossoy Sisters


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Born = birth date|1938|5|11|mf=y
New York City, NY, U.S.
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Origin = Greenwich Village ,New York City
Instrument = Vocal
Genre = Folk
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Years_active = 1956 - 1960s, 1981, 2002-2003
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Associated_acts = Erik Darling
URL = KossoySisters.com
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Current_members = Irene Saletan, Ellen Christenson (born Irene and Ellen Kossoy)

The Kossoy Sisters, Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson, are an American folk and old time music act based around the identical twin sisters Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson [http://www.kossoysisters.com The Kossoy Sisters official website ] ] . In their music, Irene sings mezzo soprano vocal, and Ellen supplies soprano harmony, with Irene on guitar and Ellen playing the 5-string banjo in a traditional up-picking technique. Their performances are notable examples of close harmonies singing. They began performng professionally in their mid teens and are esteemed as a significant part of the popular folk music movement that started in the mid 1950s.

The sisters were born on May 11, 1938 in New York City, USA. The twins began singing together at about the age of six, in imitation of harmonies created in the home by their mother and aunt. At fifteen they attended a summer camp at which Pete Seeger and other well known folk singers often performed, and they developed a life long attachment to the genre. They quickly discovered the bustling folk music scene in the Greenwich Village section of New York City and mingled with the people who congregated in Washington Square Park. [http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/article.asp?xid=548 countrystandardtime.com] ,O Kossoy Sisters Where Art Thou Been?, interview. Retrived June 18, 2008 ]

When they were seventeen, they recorded the album "Bowling Green" which features the sisters' close harmonies and accompaniment by Erik Darlingcite news | title =The Timeless Kossoy Sisters | publisher =WBUR | date = 2003-02-21 | url =http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2003/02/20030221_b_main.asp ] . The duo were introduced to a new audience when their version of "I'll Fly Away" from this album was used in the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?".

They performed in the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959. They also were in the original stage production of Woody Guthrie's "Bound for Glory" and at the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in Petersburgh, NY.Fact|date=June 2008 They toured California in 1981 and have appeared in the Boston area, Washington DC, New York Pinewood Camp, various venues in the St. Louis area and numerous other locations.Fact|date=June 2008

A second CD, "Hop on Pretty Girls," appeared in 2002 on the Living Folk label. A non-commercial CD, "Kossoy Sisters," is available from Public Radio Station WBUR in Boston. It is a recording of an interview with the twins on February 23, 2003, during their promotional tour for "Hop on Pretty Girls."

Irene and Ellen attended local schools in New York and went on to graduate from Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. Soon after completion of their formal studies, the sisters married. Ellen moved to St. Louis and Irene settled in the Boston area. Irene and her husband Anthony S.Saletan performed together for some time as Tony and Irene Saletan. They released an album themselves in the late 1960s. Over the years the sisters have continued to perform live while also immersing themselves in the responsibilities of family life. Ellen has a son and a daughter, and Irene has two sons and a daughter.

Discography

* "Bowling Green", 1956 (rerelased by Rykodisc in 1996, Released as part of the three disc set "The Best of the Bluegrass Tradition.)
* "Hop on Pretty Girls", Living Folk 2002
*"Kossoy Sisters", Recording of an interview from the National Public Radio program "On Point", February 23, 2003
* "Banjo Music of the Southern Appalachians", Erik Darling (Kossoy Sisters appear on this record).

ee also

* [http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/article.asp?xid=548 O Kossoy Sisters Where Art Thou Been?] , countrystandardtime.com Retrieved June 18,2008
* [http://kossoysisters.com Kossoy Sisters.com] , Official Website Retrieved on June 18, 2008

Notes