Vołosi – The Asians of Europe
28|03|2012
The culture of the remix – this concept will be present throughout the 6th Two Riversides Film and Art Festival. How does Vołosi fit into this concept and how effective is their attempt to join cultures? – Krzysztof Lasoń, member of the band Vołosi, that will perform during this year’s Two Riversides Festival, says – “We only join one another in music to break barriers.”
VOŁOSI – a band constituting a completely new quality on the Polish scene. This improvisational string quintet owes its distinctive sound to the cooperation of classical and folk musicians. The final effect, however, goes beyond the category of popular folk music. It is much closer to Chopin’s idea of giving the traits of high art to traditional music.
Vołosi is one of the best Polish folk bands. That is acknowledged by the highest awards at almost all ethnic music competitions and festivals. For his folkore-promoting activity, Jan Kaczmarzyk has been honoured with the prestigeous Oskar Kolberg award. At the Nowa Tradycja (New Tradition) Polish Radio Festival, the band won the Grand Prix, the Czesław Niemen award, and the audience award. The band played concerts in most of Europe, in Morocco, India, Nepal, and Ceylon. Their shows are always met with a heated welcome. Their playing is full of spontaneous expression, a romantic Slavic longing for beauty, and hot Balkan vehemence.
This band’s concert at Two Riversides will serve to present the natural connections and mutual inspirations of different musical genres and styles, to show the bridges between them, which mark out the pure essence of music, and to underline the bond between traditional and classical music.
