VreMea Válkània

How do musicians from the Balkan regions inspire each other? What Western musical influences can be detected in traditional genres? What might a lyrical Bosnian sevdalinka with virtuoso cimbalom accompaniment or a Serbian kolo with Hungarian harmonica and Romanian lyrics be like? How can a lăutar instrumental interlude be played in a Greek tango? How do famous hits travel between the Balkan countries? How does a Greek rebetiko song from the last century become the Hollywood soundtrack to a first date or a sleepless night? What attracts four Middle Eastern European musicians to the Balkans and the Mediterranean? These are the questions that the VreMea Válkània project seeks to answer by combining two-song singing and two instrumental performances that make up a full orchestra in themselves.

Vocalists Veronika Varga and Ilka Kisgyörgy, accordionist Benedek Réti and cimbalom player Ion Curteanu come from different musical backgrounds, from folk music to jazz and classical music. In a musical foursome named after the multilingual colloquialism, they perform their common favourites. The Balkans, (Valkania [Greek: Βαλκάνια]) as a common musical genre is the main current of the project, while each of the songs performed reflects the musicians' own connection to the Balkans. In this way, the Balkans become a common and unique language (mea: mine [Romanian]), in an unrepeatable moment in time, in the present (vreme: time [Serbian, Romanian]).

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During the concert, video and audio will be recorded, so by being present you support the musicians in the making of the recording and agree to be part of the audience for a few frames.

The concert will start at 20:30 in view of the video recording!

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