March 11, 2003
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Hungarian world music superstars Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén triumphantly return to UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Muzsikás & Márta Sebestyén
• Music from the heart of Eastern Europe
• Hungary’s greatest folk music ensemble
• Saturday, April 12 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General: $28/$25, UCSB students: $19/$16
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Celebrated worldwide for their outstanding musicianship and enchanting interpretations of traditional Eastern European folk music, Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén will perform on Saturday, April 12 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. This is a triumphant return engagement for the group after their unforgettable Santa Barbara performance in May 2000. Muzsikás balances the raw sound of the village with keen technique, whether playing Gypsy dances or exploring Bela Bartók’s folk roots. Márta Sebestyén has performed with the group since its inception and in recent years has gained international acclaim as a solo artist. Her otherworldly vocals have graced the Grammy-winning album Boheme by Deep Forest and the soundtrack for the Oscar-winning film The English Patient. The Washington Post calls Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén “Hungary’s finest active folk troupe...From any angle, these are inexhaustible themes handled by superb musicians.”

Muzsikás is the name given to musicians playing traditional folk music in Hungarian villages. The formation of the ensemble coincided with the European revivalist movement of the seventies when musicians grew interested not only in the traditions, but also the roots of culture. The members of the group play and sing in the style of old Hungarian folk bands in which the solo violin and the song typically were accompanied with the three-stringed viola and contrabass. The musicians also play other instruments that enable them to produce an extensive range of exciting and unusual color tones. Muzsikás performs the true folk music of Hungary, the most beautiful melodies of which were considered by Bela Bartók to be equal with the greatest works of music.

Muzsikás has toured all over the world including nearly every European country, in addition to Northern America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, having appeared in the greatest festivals and biggest concert halls, such as the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Theatre de la Ville in Paris and the Town Hall in New York.

Having played a leading role in the Hungarian folk movement of the 1970s, Muzsikás has been called “the Chieftains of Hungary” for renewing interest in native traditional music among their homeland’s urban youth. Band members began touring the rural regions of their country to learn from village musicians whose art was undiluted by time and politics. The band’s repertoire includes fetching courtship and wedding songs, laments, dances and harvest songs. Members of Muzsikás include Daniel Hamar on bass, hammer dulcimer and hit-gardon (a unique cross between a cello and a drum); violist Péter Éri; Mihály Sipos on fiddle, and second fiddler Lászlo Porteleki.

Muzsikás’ collaborative recordings with Sebestyén include The Bartók Album (1999); Morning Star (1997), which captures the charisma of the live performances that have made Muzsikás and Sebestyén concert favorites around the world; and a self-titled CD (1990). They have also released instrumental recordings Ketto: Hungarian Folk Music (1995), Maramaros: The Lost Jewish Music of Transylvania (1993), Blues for Transylvania (1991) and The Prisoner’s Song (1989).

Sebestyen’s solo recordings include The Best of Márta Sebestyén (1997), Kismet (1996) and Apochrypha (1992). She has also performed with Vujicsics, an ensemble that focuses on the traditions of Southern Hungary’s Croats and Serbs. At the age of 12, Sebestyén received a prize for folk singing from Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. She first sang with Muzsikás in the early 1980s and was voted the country’s best pop singer for her work in a rock opera about Hungary’s King Stephen.

On the evening of the performance concertgoers may enhance their experience by attending a tasty Hungarian buffet served by the UCSB Faculty Club at 6 pm. The dinner is $18 per person; reservations must be made by April 4 by calling (805) 893-3096.

Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén are presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and are funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency. Tickets are $28 and $25 for the general public and $19 and $16 for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.