Tęgie Chłopy band continues the traditions of live dance music of Kielce region, Central Poland. The aim of the band is to revive the music that used to be performed in the villages in the old days.

Kielce region is known for its brass orchestras - that is why Tęgie Chłopy include a strong brass section, namely trumpet, clarinet and bass.

The members of the band are the disciples of village musicians. One of their most important masters is Stanisław Witkowski from Opatów, an 80-years old clarinet player. Together with his four brothers he created a legendary band  that performed traditional music during hundreds of wedding parties. People say that Witkowski brothers were able to lift the ceilings with their music. And that is the goal of Tęgie Chłopy, too.

The band’s members put effort and attention to recall the sound and characteristic groove of the village music and give it a second life, bringing back its erstwhile practical function.

Tęgie Chłopy is a word-play and stands for „tough chaps“. In the same time, „chłop“ is a local name for the type of old traditional dance tune in the region of Kielce. „Chłop“ represents a kind of mazurka – dance tune in triple meter, characteristic for Polish traditional music.

Tęgie Chłopy:
Stanisław Witkowski, Michał Żak – clarinet
Maciej Filipczuk, Michał Maziarz, Marcin Żytomirski – violin
Ewa Grochowska – violin, vocal
Mateusz Kowalski – accordion
Szczepan Pospieszalski – trumpet
Dorota Murzynowska – drum
Maniucha Bikont – bass, vocal


BURÓNKA is a project born of fascination with the vocal traditions of the Kurpie ethnic group from Poland’s Puszcza Zielona (Green Wilderness) region.
Here, the contemporary language of musical expression is interwoven with a deeply tradition-based approach to conducting a vocal narrative.
Original interpretations have been given to songs taken from archival recordings, as well as the repertoire of Bronisława Świder from the village of Bandysie, who is Olga Stopińska's primary teacher and guide.
During Polish Public Radio’s New Tradition Festival in 2017, the group was awarded 2nd Prize “for suggestively conveying the character of Kurpie songs”, as well as the “Thunder of Applause” Audience Award.
The group consists of:
Olga Stopińska - vocals, inspiration
Mateusz Wachowiak – Polish three-row accordeon, arrangements
Mateusz Sieradzan – percussion instruments
In the Kurpie idiom a “burońka” is a linen or wool cloth, sometimes used for carrying infants, but also as a bed cover.

Muzyka Zakorzeniona is a foundation and small label from Poland. We document and popularize traditional music.

Witches Brew ist die neue Formation von Maria Reich (Violine), Julia Bilat (Cello) und Laura Totenhagen (Stimme). In ihrem akustischen Trio entwickeln die drei Musikerinnen ihre Eigenkompositionen kollektiv. Sie brechen mit Klischees durch die Bereitschaft in Klänge hineinzukriechen und Ideen lebendig und reaktionsintensiv aufeinandertreffen zu lassen. Die gewohnten Klangspektren von Geige, Cello und Stimme werden spielerisch, wach und wendig erweitert: geräuschhafte Rohheit und massive, dicht verwobene Momente neben Mut zum Fast-Nichts und flirrenden Atmosphären.
Ihre Kompositionen und Arrangements sind inspiriert durch Jazz, klassische Moderne und Neue Musik und Künstler_innen wie Sainkho Namtchylak, Hanne Hukkelberg, Eugene Ysaye, John Cage, Björk, Ernst Reisinger, Fred Frith, Iva Bittova.
Die drei Musikerinnen lernten sich im vielfach ausgezeichneten STEGREIF.orchester kennen, das klassische Werke mit Improvisation und Bewegung verbindet.

julia bilat is following