Concerts & Events

Southern Slavic Soul from Budapest

Söndörgő is one of the leading exponents of tamburitza music from Hungary. Unlike the fiddle driven village music and brass band traditions often associated with eastern European folk music, tamburitza is propelled by the tambura, an instrument akin to the mandolin that is often accompanied by wind instruments and accordions. Founded by the Eredics brothers in the mid-90s, this exciting ensemble is committed to performing and promoting the southern slavic folk music collected by Béla Bartók and Tihamer Vujicsis and celebrated by communities along the Danube River.

The group was founded in 1995 in Szentendre, a small Hungarian town near Budapest, with long-established Serbian tradition. The Eredics brothers got acquainted, and started to play music together with bass player Attila Buzás during their high-school years. Partly because of family reasons (Kálmán Eredics, the father of the Eredics brothers, was a founder member of the Vujicsics ensemble), all the group members are profoundly touched by, and drawn towards Southern Slavic folk music – and whatever can be accomplished from that starting point. The current members of the group are: Áron Eredics, Benjamin Eredics, Dávid Eredics, Salamon Eredics and Attila Buzás.

In contrast to most groups playing Balkan music, Söndörgő isn't playing brass band music, it is a tamburitza band. The tambura is a small and agile plucked instrument similar to the mandolin which is occasionally supplemented by wind instruments and accordion. Söndörgő's traditional repertoire is made up of material gathered by Béla Bartók and Tihamér Vujicsics as well as learned from old masters of the tradition.
Nowadays Söndörgő is a constant performer of festivals around the globe. They have played at many of the most prestigious world music festivals and venues in Europe, such as WOMEX, WOMAD, Roskilde, the Barbican and many others. Their most recent album, Tamburocket topped the European World Music Chart for four consecutive months. They have worked together with the famous Macedonian saxophonist, Ferus Mustafov (fruit of this collaboration is their joint 2009 album). Currently they work on a joint concert series in Europe with the legendary Amsterdam Klezmer Band.

Discover with them the delicate beauty and fizzing power of a different Balkan sound. Come and dance the cocek, drink a palinka and get dizzy on Söndörgő's extraordinary rhythms.

http://www.sondorgo.hu/