Tuesday, January 29, 2008

"Mărţişor" orchestra

In 2005 "Mărţişor" started with an orchestra, a violin, a clarinet, and a guitar. Since than, the number of players and the variety of instruments went through, and the sound changes every year depending on what instruments we have.

At the moment we have two violins, a cello, saxophone, taragot (similar to clarinet), flute, guitar, and a piano. In the past we also had a pan flute, bass, bass guitar, and trumpet. Acoustical sound is what we strive for, and we try to use amplification as little as possible, usually only for the vocals.

Our music is traditional folk music, ranging from Russia to Macedonia.


Because of our conductors background Romanian music has always been the pillar of our concerts. Reaching far back into time, or "just" a century ago, our music touches the souls and invites the audience to sing and dance with us. Whether you are of Romanian descent or not, makes no difference. Nobody can resist the rhythm of "Ciuleandra" or the melody of "S-aseara ţi-am luat basma".

Often in our concerts we have guests performing music from other parts of the world. In 2007, for instance, we had Indian tabla and harmonium players, and also a Chinese flute player in our annual concert. In our coming March 1st concert we will have Turkish belly dancers and a Columbian dance group.

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