Robert Burdalski
Robert Budalski (born in 1974 in Morąg) – funeral singer from Olsztyn, researcher and traditional musician playing the baraban and bass drums. He has 25 years of experience in field research, documentation and practice of male singing traditions (ritual songs, spring songs, funeral songs, Lent songs, Marian songs, post-liturgical devotions – chaplets, rosaries, litanies) from Podlasie and Roztocze, as well as traditional instrumental music from central Poland.
He co-founded the Podróżniczy Kolektyw Skrzypcowy group, the Zawiejok Brothers Band, the Memento Mori Dance Club, and the Men’s Company from Olsztyn. He was a student of Jan Gaca, a funeral singer from Podlasie: Jan Szklarzewski, Jan Komosa and Józef Niemotko. He has participated in projects involving in-depth research into traditional music and culture (including Serce Dzwonu [Heart of the Bell] by the TRATWA Association and projects by the Knyszyn Cultural Centre).
He leads the INTROIT group in Olsztyn, whose aim is to restore traditional religious singing and sung post-liturgical services to the community’s practice as prayer (2022 – present). This is currently his main path of creative development.
Recipient of a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2025 – an artistic scholarship in the field of folk culture entitled ‘Songs of Podlasie’. Designer and builder of Christmas carol stars.
