Violinist cultivating the folk playing style and repertoire of selected microregions of Central Poland, including Radom region, Forest Masovia, Sanniki region, Kuyavia, former Galicia, and Polesia. Student of rural musicians including Piotr and Jan Gaca, Stefan Nowaczek, and Tadeusz Lipiec. Leader of Kapela Niwińskich and Orkiestra Galicja, he collaborates with traditional singer Maria Siwiec. Ethnologist, educator, cultural animator, and craftsman, he carries out various educational projects.

Violinist and researcher of Polish traditional music. She is fascinated by both exploring the secrets of performing this music in its raw dance form, close to its sources and archives, and by experimenting and weaving it into the fabric of contemporary culture.

She performs with ensembles such as Dobrzeliniacy, Lunaria, Radical Polish Ansambl, and Non-adaptive Dance Music.

She lectures at the traditional music postgraduate program at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

Warszawsko-Lubelska Orkiestra Dęta was formed in autumn 2017 in Warsaw at the Embassy of Traditional Music under the influence of strong inspiration from archives, but also from lively encounters with Lublin brass bands, which are the last to continue the tradition of playing to dance in the Roztocze region. This function has disappeared among modern orchestras, and with it the old repertoire, which has been replaced by interpretations of popular music hits, usually Western.

For much of the 20th century, it was wind orchestras that led the way at weddings and dance parties in the villages of Lublin/Roztocze, playing the then eagerly danced repertoire of decidedly national origin – polkas, obereks, foxtrots, tangos, waltzes. The WLOD is trying to revive this tradition, learning tunes from the still-active orchestras of Zdziłowice and Goraj, as well as writing down scores on their own from archival recordings or poring over old manuscripts of sheet music found in Roztocze during field research.

The orchestra has played to dance at festivals including Mazurkas of the World Festival, Oj Wiosna, Ty Wiosna, Move Your Brass and Fanfara, but also in more intimate and spontaneous situations.

Photo: Mariusz Cieszewski

The Tęgie Chłopy band continues the tradition of dance music of the Kielce region in its authentic and unstylized form. With its repertoire and instrumentation, it refers to the best models – traditional bands that used to play weddings and country parties in the vicinity of Łagówand Opatów, such as the band of the Witkowski brothers from Orłowiny, Krakowiak from Zbelutka, Antoni Witkowski from Cisóww and many others.

The band’s name is a musical statement: Peasants primarily play Kielce “chłopy” – three-beat, tuneful melodies typical of the eastern Kielce region, also known as “światowki” or “śpiwy”. Tęgie Chłopy want to play to dance so that “the ceiling rises” – as supposedly happened at parties played by the famous Witkowski brothers’ band. Raising the ceiling is greatly helped by the presence of a strong brass section – trumpet, clarinet and tuba.

The band is made up of musicians involved in the organization of the Kielce Tabor Dance House in Sędek near Łagów (2013-2016). Most of them are co-creators of many acclaimed musical projects and animation activities in the world of Polish traditional music.

In an effort to reach the oldest repertoire of the Kielce region, band members have traveled hundreds of kilometers in search of musicians and singers of the region.

The band has played to dance at dance parties and festivals of traditional and contemporary music throughout Poland, as well as in Sweden and France. It also took part in Jacek Hałas and Darek Blaszczyk’s performance Orszak weselny/Żałobny rapsod, produced by Polish Radio.

In October 2015, the first album of Tęgie Chłopy – Dansing – was released by the Muzyka Odnaleziona publishing house. The premiere of the second album, Wedding! was held on December 7, 2017.

Fot. Karolina Majewska

Singer, visual artist, musician, pupil of village musicians and singers, teacher of traditional singing. For more than a dozen years, she has been collecting and performing traditional music mainly from central Poland, but also from Ukrainian and Belarusian Polesie. She lives in the Łęczyca region, where she researches and documents local musical traditions (mainly traditional singing) and organizes activities to activate the local community, including under IMiT’s programs Kolberg Academy, Łęczyca School of Tradition, School of Tradition Masters. In 2017, she realized a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. On a daily basis, she performs in bands: Kożuch (basses, vocals), From the Forest (vocals), Kust (vocals), co-founded, among others, the band Odpoczno (basses, melodica, vocals), the reconstruction project “Music of Kuyavia”.

Animator, teacher, musician. She plays traditional Polish music on frame drums and barabans. She developed her style playing with great rural musicians, including violinists Piotr Gaca, Jan Kmita, Stefan Nowaczek, and accordionist Tadusz Lipiec.

Together with her husband, she co-creates the Kapela Niwińskich band, as well as other music projects – Orkiestra Galicja and Poleski Skład Skrzypcowy.

Ewa Grochowska researches styles of traditional singing (mainly ritual songs) in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. She makes recordings in the field, runs workshops and gives concerts of Polish traditional songs and instrumental music in north Lesser Poland and Lubelskie voivodeship. She is author of educational and artistic projects which aim to pass on, reconstruct and promote Polish traditional music. Since 2017 she has been researching cultural identity and traditional music transformations in difficult historical circumstances as were post-war relocations. She is very fond of folk wedding songs which do not allow half-hearted singing and which she has learnt from traditional singers in Poland and Ukraine since 1999.

She was a student of violinist Jan Gaca from Przystałowice Małe in the years 2000-2013.

She has been involved in numerous music projects and bands: Tęgie Chłopy, Z Lasu, Warszawa Wschodnia, Orkiestra Jarmarku Jagiellońskiego, MZK Toruń.

She also obtained a grant from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. She has got PhD in human sciences.

Fot. K. Gołębiowska

Musical artists:

• Mateusz Niwiński – 1st violin
• Angela Zajcewa – 2nd violin
• Piotr Domagalski – basolia/double bass
• Magdalena Sobczak – cimbalom
• Agnieszka Niwińska – frame drum/baraban
• Mariza Nawrocka – vocal