Vujicsics 50 – Podravina

In 2024, an emblematic band on the Hungarian traditional music scene who play Southern Slavic folk music, Vujicsics, will turn 50. To mark the occasion, they are bringing a jubilee show to the House of Music featuring songs from Podravina in the Dráva River Basin Region, and some guests: musician friends of Vujicsics from the Pécs region. Here is what the band have to say about the concert:

"For fifty years we have felt at home in two places. Here in the north, in the surroundings of Budapest, and down in the south, in the Pécs area, where we also have half a century of friendship. We celebrate when we can meet, collaborate and make music together with our dance and musician friends. We are delighted that the outstanding concert of our jubilee year, 2024, entitled Podravina (the Dráva River Basin), will provide us with an opportunity to share the stage with many of them. The list of names is impressive. Most of these people also contributed to the CD of the same name released in 2001. The concept behind this event is based on that traditional Dráva Region material, the beauty of which lies in its restrained simplicity and naturalness, and in the dominant presence of the Burdon sound, which is also carried in the harmonised melodies. It is not just a meeting of bagpipes, gajda and tamburas, but 'a union between converging musical worlds'."

A taste of the show to come: Vrapčevo, Alaj diko..., Križanje, Dude, Nije šala... (drmeš), Kolo, Udaranje u sare, Jozo, Bečarac, Kud pogledam, Kolovođa..., all arranged by the Vujicsicsics band and based on melodies from the Drava Region collected by György Martin and Tihamér Vujicsics.