Moldovan Folk Music at UW Feb. 4

January 25, 2013
Members of music group
The Moldovan quartet, La Taifas, will present a program at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the University of Wyoming Fine Arts concert hall.

Moldovan folk music, known for its swift, complex rhythms, will be presented by Republic of Moldova musicians at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the University of Wyoming Fine Arts concert hall.

Playing a variety of instruments, from the panflute to the accordion, the Moldovan musicians will be on the UW campus for a folk music concert, workshops and presentations.

Two Moldovan music scholars will present historical and contemporary aspects of their rich musical heritage for a variety of music classes on campus. Diana Bunea and Victoria Tcacenco will present visual and aural images of Moldovan music, ranging from the ancient lautar tradition of northern Moldova to rock opera in Chisinau.

The La Taifas quartet features panflute master Boris Rudenco; violinist Marin Bunea; accordionist Edgar Stefaneţ; and cimbalom master Gheorghe Severin. Their virtuosic playing brings their music alive, says UW Department of Music Professor Rod Garnett.

Moldovan classical guitarist Maria Bunea and choirs from the UW Department of Music, under the direction of Nicole Lamartine, will join them.

Each La Taifas quartet member has participated in developing and sustaining Moldovan folk music. The music reflects Moldova’s place as a nexus for many ethnicities, languages and historical influences, including Romania and Bulgaria in the Balkan Peninsula, Ukraine and Russia to the north and east, and Turkey and central Asia.

“Nai, the Moldovan panflute, and cimbalom join with virtuosic violin and accordion to take listeners to distant worlds of dance and song,” Garnett says.

The Moldovan musicians are on a three-week tour of Utah and Wyoming. Their UW appearance is supported by grants from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, the Wyoming Arts Council, the Wyoming Humanities Council, the UW Student Activities Council and the World to Wyoming fund.

For more information, contact Garnett at (307) 760-6862 or email rgarnett@uwyo.edu.

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