La Banda Europa is an extraordinary orchestra of 35 virtuoso musicians all of whom play ethnic instruments indigenous to their own European country of origin. Hurdy-gurdies from France and Hungary, nyckelharpas from Sweden, Armenian duduks, Serbian brass, Turkish drums, the bagpipes of six nations and more. La Banda Europa is a potent symbol of how people of different backgrounds and cultures can come together with a common purpose united in music.
The Hurdy Gurdies are amazing to look at, like Elizabethan ships, with a sound somewhere between the violin and the bagpipes. The nykelharpas are similar, having a strange, other-worldly sound to them. The Armenians play an ancient instrument called the duduk made from the wood of the apricot tree and which sounds like a woman singing alto.Instruments like the ancient Celtic carnyx will grab the eye – it’s the only one of its kind in the world and was reconstructed from one found in bog-land in Scotland. It’s a bronze war horn which was 6ft long and held vertically above the player’s head.
Jim Sutherland – Director
Check out this youtube video of La Banda europa in action
La Banda Europa provides an artistic ‘environment’ for musical collaboration and communication between the cultures of Europe. Cross fertilisation and inter cultural collaboration are vital to La Banda Europa.
Europe is musically extremely diverse from the polkas of Sweden to the plaintive duduk music of Armenia, from the gypsy brass of the Balkans to the Celtic airs of Scotland and Ireland or Spanish Flamenco. La Banda Europa creates opportunities for musicians from different European cultural backgrounds to play together whist retaining strong individual identity. La Banda intends to involve all of the countries of geographical Europe in the project as well as exploring gypsy traditions.
La Banda offers workshops and master classes in addition to concerts by the full orchestra, small ensembles and individuals.
The function of music and its tool – the instrument – must not be limited to the mere production of sounds. Traditional Music and instruments convey the deepest cultural, spiritual and aesthetic values of civilization, transmitting knowledge in many spheres. UNESCO
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