Berlin-Budapest Express: Kalagor

The Berlin-Budapest Express will pull up for the second time at the House of Music in September, with artists and forward-looking music from Berlin, Budapest and other European cities with cross-genre performers presenting innovative music. On Friday 15 September, Catalan artpop star Marina Herlop and Slovenian avant-folk trio Širom, whose 2022 album really put them on the map, are performing on the opening day of the autumn event. Stepping up to play on Saturday 16 September are the spacey, electronic-ambient, minimalist American performing artist-singer-clarinettist Holland Andrews, and London-based experimental techno producer-DJ-songwriter Beatrice Dillon. Both days will close with free open-air concerts: on Friday the improvisational psychedelic group Huba és Vazul csodálatos utazásai / Huba and Vazul's Marvellous Journeys are taking to the stage; while on Saturday a group of Moldovan musicians, Kalagor, are playing. The Berlin-Budapest Express weekend is organised by the House of Music Hungary in cooperation with the Berlin-based cultural organisation Digital in Berlin with the aim of connecting two culturally vibrant European capitals and creating a forum for cross-genre exchanges and innovative musical activities.

Kalagor is a two-member Moldovan band that plays mainly Csángó-Hungarian music. It was founded in 2004 by István Kelemen and Szabolcs Csibi in order to create an original and completely traditional violin and koboz [type of lute] instrumental version of revival Moldovan dance music, as opposed to the recorder and nylon-stringed koboz (somewhat inauthentic) line-up. The birth of the ensemble was preceded by many years of collaboration in various revival bands, frequent service to the dance-calendars of Moldavian Csángó-Hungarian communities and, of course, many opportunities to play and collect music from local informant musicians. This is where the desire to share the knowledge and experiences they had gained there with the people who came to the dance halls came from originally. To make the experience even more complete, Csaba Érsek also joins the formation with his songs and stories. Over the years, the members of Kalagor have maintained close ties with Moldovan Hungarians, not only enriching their knowledge but also passing on to the children the knowledge they have themselves acquired, often thus forming a bridge between them and the elders who are no longer with us.

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