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1961, Csíkkarcfalva, ROI worked in Balanbánya (romanian Bălan, a town in Transilvania) until 1990. Many Moldovans worked in Balanbánya, many of them were Csángós, and I noticed their unique speech and archaic features. We became friends with several of them, they were more courageous in using their own language in front of us, they invited…

Violinist cultivating the folk manner of playing and the repertoires of selected micro-regions of Central Poland, Kujawy, former Galicia, Polesia, student of rural musicians, active musician of the IN CRUDO stage, leader of the Niwinski Band, Galicia Orchestra performing at numerous festivals of traditional and ethnic music. Participant of musical projects: Poleski Skład Smyczkowy, Oberkas…

István Lukács is a traditional musician from Gimesz (Eastern Carpathians) who plays the violin, which is typical of Chang music, with incredible virtuosity. He studied his repertoire for several years with János Zerkula, the legendary blind violinist, from whom he inherited not only his knowledge but also his way of playing the violin. Recordings: Watch the…

Dániel Bolya – flutist and flute builder, teacher, publisher. Years ago he co-founded a very good band playing chango – Zurgó, with which he toured Poland, among others. Currently, his bands are HORBA!, Bacsó and his band. Since January 2006, he has been teaching at various music schools and also plays in programmes for pre-school…

The Malisz Band is afamily band from Męcina Mała in the Beskid Niski region, formed by multi-instrumentalist and instrument builder Jan Malisz and his children: Zuzanna and Kacper. The band is inspired by the traditional rural music of its region (Beskid Niski), but also by dances and chants from various areas of Poland. The music…

The Noise Band is a family duo of seasoned artists who have been exploring the most interesting and archaic forms of European music, dance and craft for years. Creators of the Poznań Dance House (2000). Jacek and Alicja Hałas are members of the most interesting folk formations in Poland, co-creators of international artistic and theatrical…

Kazimierz Nitkiewicz – trumpeter, sound director, publisher. A graduate of the Faculty of Sound Direction at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, he is a member of the Warsaw Sentimental Orchestra. His heart belongs to traditional music from different parts of the world, especially from Poland, the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkans and Polish…

Skrzypkowie Dzielni is a Torun-based string band. They draw on archival music recorded in previous centuries, particularly Kujawy and Swedish. An important component of the ensemble’s repertoire is the raft and oryll music recorded in Oskar Kolberg’s works in the parts concerning Kuyavia. The songs, as danceable as they may be, were once performed by…

Pawel Iwan – carol singer, singer, dancer and dulcimer player. Known for his work with bands from Inna Struna, Tadirindum, KBB, Pokrzyk, Kapela Ozimkowicza, Hajda Banda/Гайда Банда and C.K. Kapela, with which he wins distinctions and awards.  He also performs as a guest with the bands Iskierczanie (Dębica), Kapela Brodów, Kapela Serhija Ochrimczuka and Krajka/Крайка…

Sergey Ohrimchuk’s band – explores and performs traditional instrumental and polyphonic music from various regions of Ukraine and Europe. At the Festival Czango will play Hutsul and Boyko melodies. The leader, Serhiy Ochrimchuk, is an accomplished violinist and singer as well as a folklore reconstructionist. He is a member of, among others, the legendary Drevo…

Júlia Skopp – movement and music teacher (BA at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna). She has been playing flutes and dancing since she was a child; she fell in love with chango dances in 2012, although she frequented the Csángó Festival in Jászberény as a child. Since then, she has participated…

Sámsondi Gergely – is a phenomenal dance musician, a non-stage performer and a pupil of village masters (including Zoltán Vak from Gimesz). He plays the violin, kobos, flutes and dulcimer. Since 1993, he has regularly organised dance houses where he performs as the leader of the Borvíz string band specialising in music from Transylvania, Seklerszczyzna…

Vajk Gyulai – plays flutes and koboz in the amateur folk bands Csenderítők and Mácsonya, with whom he regularly plays concerts and dance events. In the summer of 2023, he played with the Szőrénszálán band (led by Farkas Gyulai) and taught flute playing at our events in Kraków and Toruń (Z czango w las). Since…

Farkas Gyulai – violinist, singer, dancer, also plays the koboz, gardon, flutes and, most importantly, is able to teach all this in a very natural and gentle way. Co-founder of the band Szépszerével (2012), founder of the band Szőrénszálán (2023), with whom he often visits Poland. Sympathy for Poland and Poles has also translated into…

Olena Gaidychuk – cultorologist, conductor, bandleader, folklorist, music therapist, teacher of music, rhythmics, voice emission and piano.  Graduate of the Music Academy in Kiev. She is a soloist of the state choir “Khreshchatyk” in Kiev, a soloist of the ensembles “Ukrainian Hearts” and “Slavik Folk Orchestra” in Torun, a trainer of vocal-yoga, singing and music…

Marta Domachowska – ethnologist, researcher of Polish folk culture, pupil of rural singers, dancers and musicians. She explores, practices and popularises Polish musical traditions in crudo. Among other things, she conducts original dance workshops, singing meetings, family musical events and workshops of traditional children’s games for educators and animators. Since 2011, she has been working…

Cuyahoga Wednesday is a place in time and space where lovers of communal singing and musical traditions meet. The group operates at the Bydgoszcz Przedmieście Cultural Center in Toruń under the direction of Katarzyna Rosik. They get to know the Kuyavian repertoire thanks to archival recordings of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy…

We play folk music – Polish and beyond. For 100 days, no end in sight. Kapela for 100 days has been active since 2019. Its composition is violin, bass and drum.It corresponds to the most traditional performance of Polish folk music, which we want to perform as faithfully as possible. The basis of our repertoire…

The Folkwir Band is a group of cheerful musicians passionate about traditional melodies, able to bring everyone to heel with a nonchalant smile. They love cheerful polkas and twisted cheers, and will also play for integration dances with their own unique twist. Together with energetic Kasia Kostanska-Maziarz, who will explain each dance well, they create…

The band plays temperamental kolomyjki, polkas and chants, which can still be heard from time to time in the Hutsul region, i.e. in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, including the Black Mountain range. To this music Hutsuls still play, dance and feast to this day Performers of traditional Hutsul music are mainly the best students of…

Andrzej Skupniewicz – a music teacher from Chelmno – has decided to revive the heritage of Chelmno Land (Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province). The task he set for himself is all the more difficult because this region is a white spot on the ethnomusicological map of Poland. Having no recordings, no informants, he used a unique source –…

Born in 1940, András Hodorog, a flutist from Klézse, is a leading M Csángó folk musician from Moldva. In 2016 he was awarded the Master of Folk Art (a Népművészet Mestere ) prize. He learned to play the flute from his maternal grandfather. His instrumental knowledge is not limited to dance music, but he is…

Gyula Katyi, born August 22, 1989, is a chango dancer from Moldova. He also plays the baraban. From an early age, he struggled with health problems – he spent much of his childhood in hospitals due to a dislocated hip. His education took place in various places, including the Czango education program and the mathematics…

As a child, he danced with Zola Prauda in Kaba (Hungary, near Debrecen) and played the zither in the Vasvirág zither orchestra in Kaba. In 2004, as a freshman, he got his first six-hole “sü’ltyü” flute. He later studied at the Óbuda School of Folk Music with Sándor Balogh and Zoltán Juhász. He is also…

Joanna Mieszkowicz I have always loved dancing, traveling, meeting people and engaging them in ecological and cultural activities (I am an environmental lady by training). For more than 2 decades I have been exploring the dances of the Chango people by participating in many meetings of dance houses, dance tabors in Romania, Hungary and Poland….

I was born in Budapest in 1973, in a family of musicians. I have been playing the violin since I was six years old. In 1991 I graduated from the Győr Conservatory of Music in violin and in 1998 from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in bass viola (name of folk instrument “brácsa”). My…