Söndörgő to perform ‘lost’ cultural songs at the Kaufman Auditorium

In 1995, a musical group was founded near Budapest in a small Hungarian town. Each member, drawn from strong Southern Slavic folk music backgrounds, implemented their own ideas of a traditional sound to create their own music. Their music features upbeat high-energy picking with a Slavic bluegrass flare. This is Söndörgő, pronounced “Shuhn-der-guh.”

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center (BUPHC) will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5 in Kaufman Auditorium. Söndörgő has played at many music festivals and venues in Europe, such as WOMEX, WOMAD, Roskilde, the Barbican and many others. Tamburocket, their most recent album, topped the European World Music Chart for four consecutive months. Currently, they’re in a joint series with the Amsterdam Klezmer Band in Europe.

Söndörgő is one of the few touring groups from Hungary that play traditional music, BUPHC Director Daniel Truckey said.

“It’s traditional music, songs that go back very far in their culture. They’re into discovering songs that haven’t been played for a long time or maybe lost,” Truckey said. “They’re really dynamic performers and this is not what you would think of as a sedate-folk concert. This is a very engaging and exciting group to see play.”

In the past, the BUPHC has brought groups to perform from all over, specifically those that reflect the cultures of the U.P., such as Finnish, Irish and French-Canadian, Truckey said.

“It’s part of our mission to bring cultural events that are relevant to the culture of the U.P. A good portion of the U.P. has been settled by people from Slovak nations, like Hungary and Croatia,” Truckey said. “We hadn’t brought a group that represented that musical tradition, which is part of the reason we’re doing this event.”

Unlike most groups that play Balkan music, Söndörgő does not play brass band music. Rather, they are a tamburitza band, which is a style of
music propelled by the tambura, a small-bodied instrument similar to the mandolin, occasionally accompanied by the accordion and clarinet. A traditional fruit brandy called pálinka will be offered for attendees to enjoy while they dance the čoček in a line-like fashion.

“I think it’s going to be really exciting. It’s a type of music people really haven’t heard before,” Truckey said. “It’s entertaining and I think people will get a lot out of it.”

Tickets for the general public are $15 in advance ($17 at the door), and for students and those under 18 are $10 in advance ($12 at the door).