MITSOURA is one of the most illustrious Eastern European “worldmusic” groups , the characteristics of which are its unique musical approach, sound and complex artistic pursuits. The group’s lead singer MONIKA (MITSOU) MICZURA, with her unmistakable voice and unique talent , is among the best of Gypsy performers the world over. She has worked together with the likes of film producer Tony Gatlif , (GadjoDilo), sang with Ando Drom, Gipsy Kings, and toured the world with Fanfare Ciocarlia and the Global Vocal Meeting project.
Mitsoura is able to successfully integrate the music of the Carpathian Roma musical tradition into a progressive musical environment of different electronic, rythmical andd ethnic structures . This mixture results in a uniquely new style and sound that turns masses of young people's attention to the values of Roma culture.
The second CD of the band Dura Dura Dura takes the listener to a musical journey which leads through the ancient routes of the Gypsy diaspora from Asia to Europe. There are songs from Rajasthan, Egypt, the Balkans and Hungary . In the same time the band uses its artistic freedom to handle these beautiful melodies not as traditional songs in a traditional musical approach : their unique arrangements of Indian percussion, various Balkan strings and winds, Hungarian cimbalom and the processed electronic basis of the whole, create a magical soundscape around these songs. Despite the various effects, the repertoire remains unified: the beautiful melody, Mitsou’s suggestive performance style, the virtual instrumentation, and the special surround sound acoustics makes the group’s appearance an unforgettable experience. The concert experience is further enhanced by the constant, reactive, and live video animations prepared by Éva Mandula.
The band has already performed in many prestigious concert venues and festivals throughout Europe, just to mention a few important occasions:
Time Project (Graz, Austria, August 2008),
Balkan Trafik Festival (Brussels, Belgium, March 2008),
Royal Opera House (London, UK, February 2007),
Opera de Bordeaux (France, November 2006),
Fete de la Musique (Paris, France, June 2006),
WOMAD festival (Reading, UK, July 2006),
WOMEX (New Castle, UK, October 2005),
Sargfabrik (Vienna, Austria, April 2006).
THE BAND
Introduction
Mónika Mitsou Miczura
vocal, percussion
With an unmistakable voice and unique talent recognized the world over, she has secured her place as one of the best Gypsy performers. Yet she didn’t start out to be a singer. At 17 she attended Szentes high school as a drama student when Jenő Zsigó, the leader of Ando Drom discovered her and brought her into the band. Within minutes she was already the lead member. Her fortunes then took a turn for the worse; she found it difficult to fit in, so she left the group. Ando Drom didn’t give up; they looked her up and encouraged her to try singing again.
After a 3 year absence, Mitsou was once more the band’s lead singer, and from then on success was built on success. As the band became one of the most well known gypsy-folk groups, many began to focus on the exceptional voice and radiant singer. She was a guest singer on a Chicco and the Gipses album (the successor to the famous Gypsy Kings), went on tour, prepared an album with the French band Bratsch, worked together with the French film director Tony Gatlif (Gadjo Dilo, Swing), László Dés, and Amandia Percussion Group (Akasztottak), sang in Des’ big hit musical The Jungle Book, and did the music of many document films. With the Danish music producer Hans Eric Philip they won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for their mutual work on the music for a film called Daisy. She was invited to a “super group” called Global Vocal Meeting which featured singers from India, America, Madagascar, Mali, and Switzerland. She toured in Europe and the United States, and with the Army Singers traveled to Israel. In Zoltán Kamondy’s film Kisértések she lends her unparalleled voice to the main character (a Gypsy girl), and is a frequent guest at Besh-o-drom concerts and recording sessions.
In 2002 Cosmopolitan voted Mitsou as the Woman of the Year. Her voice has been heard the world over in more than 100 recordings, films, and plays. Since she is always open to other forms of music (she also likes the music of Bob Marley, Björk, Massive Attack, and Portishead), she has formed her own group called Mitsoura, in where she is the lead for a hundred percent contemporary, live, modern production which enables her to go on stage and step out of the traditional confines of music, and yet still retain a sense of identity. Contemporaries selected from the most diverse forms of music, a debut album (Mitsoura), and multimedia concerts are just the first steps in the birth of this new world of music.
After a 3 year absence, Mitsou was once more the band’s lead singer, and from then on success was built on success. As the band became one of the most well known gypsy-folk groups, many began to focus on the exceptional voice and radiant singer. She was a guest singer on a Chicco and the Gipses album (the successor to the famous Gypsy Kings), went on tour, prepared an album with the French band Bratsch, worked together with the French film director Tony Gatlif (Gadjo Dilo, Swing), László Dés, and Amandia Percussion Group (Akasztottak), sang in Des’ big hit musical The Jungle Book, and did the music of many document films. With the Danish music producer Hans Eric Philip they won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for their mutual work on the music for a film called Daisy. She was invited to a “super group” called Global Vocal Meeting which featured singers from India, America, Madagascar, Mali, and Switzerland. She toured in Europe and the United States, and with the Army Singers traveled to Israel. In Zoltán Kamondy’s film Kisértések she lends her unparalleled voice to the main character (a Gypsy girl), and is a frequent guest at Besh-o-drom concerts and recording sessions.
In 2002 Cosmopolitan voted Mitsou as the Woman of the Year. Her voice has been heard the world over in more than 100 recordings, films, and plays. Since she is always open to other forms of music (she also likes the music of Bob Marley, Björk, Massive Attack, and Portishead), she has formed her own group called Mitsoura, in where she is the lead for a hundred percent contemporary, live, modern production which enables her to go on stage and step out of the traditional confines of music, and yet still retain a sense of identity. Contemporaries selected from the most diverse forms of music, a debut album (Mitsoura), and multimedia concerts are just the first steps in the birth of this new world of music.
András Monori
saxophone, kaval, gadulka, bansuri, sitar, sarangi
He began his career as a jazz musician, but his interest soon turned to traditional music. After finishing the jazz conservatory he studied Indian classical music for a number of years, first with the sitar and then with the bamboo flute. Later, with his knowledge of Balkan music, he specialized in kaval and gadulka. With these instruments he developed a unique method, and along with a traditional approach he created a unique instrumental technique, combining different music cultures in an unusual manner.
Folk instruments and knowledge of music fundamentally influenced also how he played the saxophone. His improvised technique, intense and rich rhythms, and a melodic focus are apparent in where different musical styles (folk, jazz, Indian music) are equally evident. He soon became the leading soloist with the instrumental world-jazz players the Tin-Tin Quartet. He’s an active performer, and has appeared among local artists such as László Dés, Mihály Dresh, Zoltán Lantos, and Kornél Horváth. In addition to this, he has written a number of scores for the theater and films. Placing traditional folk music within a new perspective is what occupies him as a composer; in this way he connects folk music with jazz, popular, or even European classical music. As a theatrical composer his premiers follow one another; and on many occasions he has worked in the Krétakör, the József Katona, the Madách, the Sámán, the Bárka and the Attila József theaters with the likes of József Czajlik, Zoltán Egressy, Lutz Förster, Pál Mácsai, Éva Magyar, Gábor Máté, István Tasnádi, László Méhes, Árpád Schilling, and Árpád Sopsits. He composed the accompanying music for Andor Lukáts’ film Portugal, whose huge success led him to form the group Folkestra with Beà Palya, which soon won Hungarian Radio’s eMeRTon award. At the same time, he performed with the Balkan musicians Besh-o-drom and took part in the preparation of their debut album. He still plays today regularly traditional Hungarian and Balkan gypsy music with the group lead by MucaMitsou.
At the invitation of Brian Finnegan, Irish music’s flute virtuoso, he tours and records in Britain with the group Flook and the famous Breton flutist Jean-Michel Veillon. At the request of the Battersea Art Center in London he writes compositions, and it’s there that his joint production with Eva Magyar for the traveling theater called “The Party” is performed. From the beginning he has been a member and composer for Mitsoura Productions, where he is able to further maintain the value of authentic music, but new elements also appear in his works thanks to the influence of electronic music.
Folk instruments and knowledge of music fundamentally influenced also how he played the saxophone. His improvised technique, intense and rich rhythms, and a melodic focus are apparent in where different musical styles (folk, jazz, Indian music) are equally evident. He soon became the leading soloist with the instrumental world-jazz players the Tin-Tin Quartet. He’s an active performer, and has appeared among local artists such as László Dés, Mihály Dresh, Zoltán Lantos, and Kornél Horváth. In addition to this, he has written a number of scores for the theater and films. Placing traditional folk music within a new perspective is what occupies him as a composer; in this way he connects folk music with jazz, popular, or even European classical music. As a theatrical composer his premiers follow one another; and on many occasions he has worked in the Krétakör, the József Katona, the Madách, the Sámán, the Bárka and the Attila József theaters with the likes of József Czajlik, Zoltán Egressy, Lutz Förster, Pál Mácsai, Éva Magyar, Gábor Máté, István Tasnádi, László Méhes, Árpád Schilling, and Árpád Sopsits. He composed the accompanying music for Andor Lukáts’ film Portugal, whose huge success led him to form the group Folkestra with Beà Palya, which soon won Hungarian Radio’s eMeRTon award. At the same time, he performed with the Balkan musicians Besh-o-drom and took part in the preparation of their debut album. He still plays today regularly traditional Hungarian and Balkan gypsy music with the group lead by MucaMitsou.
At the invitation of Brian Finnegan, Irish music’s flute virtuoso, he tours and records in Britain with the group Flook and the famous Breton flutist Jean-Michel Veillon. At the request of the Battersea Art Center in London he writes compositions, and it’s there that his joint production with Eva Magyar for the traveling theater called “The Party” is performed. From the beginning he has been a member and composer for Mitsoura Productions, where he is able to further maintain the value of authentic music, but new elements also appear in his works thanks to the influence of electronic music.
Márk Moldvai
live electronics, keyboard, percussion
He initially prepared to be an instrumentalist and was even enrolled at the conservatory in the field of classical music, but soon realized that it was actually electronic instruments and the world of sound studios which attracted him to music. He continued as a sound engineer and formed various groups. His first album was with BMG. With the electro-pop quartet Popular he soon found himself in among the genre’s trendy groups. He went further, and with his partner Mátyás Milkovics he formed NEO in 1998, and breaking into the ranks of the underground was able to cultivate a raucous success both at home and abroad. He took part in the Popcom festival at Cologne and featured clips on MTV (Music Television). After two studio albums (Eklektogram and Lo Tech Man Hi Tech World) he arranged the music for the film Kontroll, directed by Nimród Antal, which was a huge success both among the critics and the general audience alike.
The film and its music have been gathering momentum at international film festivals and are competing for a possible Oscar award nomination in the Best Foreign Film category. After receiving a number of prestigious national and international awards, the duo (which expands to a quintet during a live performance) held a concert in front of an audience of 30,000 on the grand stage at the Sziget Festival in the summer of 2003. They worked together as producers, sound engineers, sound mechanics, and remix artists with the entire palette of Hungarian popular music, among them Heaven Street Seven, Kispál and Borz, Tankcsapda, Előd Császár, and TnT. Mark began to open himself up to new types of music, namely jazz and world music, and as a result he left NEO in 2004. He became a member of the Mitsoura world music arrangement and was also the producer on the band’s debut album. At the same time he worked with Besh-o-drom and Beà Palya, and turned to the theater as well, a childhood dream of his. He worked jointly on the performance of Krétakör Feketeország, composed the music for the Vígszínház (Three Bodyguards) and together with the dramatist István Tasnádi presented their joint “Trash Revue musical” production entitled Insects. Presently, he is involved in the production on a number of albums.
The film and its music have been gathering momentum at international film festivals and are competing for a possible Oscar award nomination in the Best Foreign Film category. After receiving a number of prestigious national and international awards, the duo (which expands to a quintet during a live performance) held a concert in front of an audience of 30,000 on the grand stage at the Sziget Festival in the summer of 2003. They worked together as producers, sound engineers, sound mechanics, and remix artists with the entire palette of Hungarian popular music, among them Heaven Street Seven, Kispál and Borz, Tankcsapda, Előd Császár, and TnT. Mark began to open himself up to new types of music, namely jazz and world music, and as a result he left NEO in 2004. He became a member of the Mitsoura world music arrangement and was also the producer on the band’s debut album. At the same time he worked with Besh-o-drom and Beà Palya, and turned to the theater as well, a childhood dream of his. He worked jointly on the performance of Krétakör Feketeország, composed the music for the Vígszínház (Three Bodyguards) and together with the dramatist István Tasnádi presented their joint “Trash Revue musical” production entitled Insects. Presently, he is involved in the production on a number of albums.
Péter Szalai
tabla, ghatam, dholak, kalimba, konnakol, percussion
Peter Szalai started playing tabla at the age of 16. Born in Budapest in1962, he has chosen to perform Indian classical music professionally. Initially he studied with Shree Anthony Dass, Ustad Inam Ali Khan, and Ustad Munnu Khan, leading exponents of Delhi gharana of tabla, and later in the second half of the 1980s became a student of the world famous tabla maestro USTAD ALLA RAKHA. These days he is well known the world over as an artist of unique talent and a musician who strictly follows the Panjab gharana of tabla. He frequently visited India and also received training from his Guru's sons, namely Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi and Toufiq Qureshi. In addition to regularly playing with Andras Kozma and the Calcutta Trio, in the 1980's Mr. Szalai also performed along with eminent Indian musicians all over Europe. Aside from playing classical music he also participated in jazz formations and mixed-music experiments. He played with leading exponents of Indian music such as Pt. Ravi Shankar, Shubho Shankar, Nandu Mulley, Subhendra Rao, Gourav Mazumdar,etc.
He has already tutored a few very talented students of Tabla. Peter Szalai is undoubtedly one of the best tabla players living outside India and he is well known for following not only Punjab gharana's style, but he is perhaps the only disciple of Ustad Alla Rakha, including Indian students, who plays his Guru's original style. Peter is the deputy director of RIMPA.
He has already tutored a few very talented students of Tabla. Peter Szalai is undoubtedly one of the best tabla players living outside India and he is well known for following not only Punjab gharana's style, but he is perhaps the only disciple of Ustad Alla Rakha, including Indian students, who plays his Guru's original style. Peter is the deputy director of RIMPA.
Miklós Lukács
cimbalom
Began his studies under the guidance of Ágnes Szakály, at eleven years of age he came in second at the Junior Level of the Aladár Rácz Cymbal Competition.
In 1997 the Friends of the Cymbal Circle Foundation was established, where he became a member of the steering committee.
In 1997 he took part as a soloist in the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s Liszt: 6 Hungarian Rhapsodies album.
In 2000 he received the Artisjus award.
In addition to classical music, he involved himself in other forms of music, foremost jazz and folk music. He is the member and frequent guest of a number of groups, such as Quartet B, Borbély Műhely, Irén Lovász, The Csaba Tűzkő Septett, the East Side Jazz Company, the Mihály Dresch Quartet, C, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, and Mirrorworld.
Aside from performing he also composes. In 2003 he composed Hazám for the Krétakör Theater, as well as Divertimento for Chamber Music and Cymbal, upon the request of the ELTE Orchestra.
In 1997 the Friends of the Cymbal Circle Foundation was established, where he became a member of the steering committee.
In 1997 he took part as a soloist in the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s Liszt: 6 Hungarian Rhapsodies album.
In 2000 he received the Artisjus award.
In addition to classical music, he involved himself in other forms of music, foremost jazz and folk music. He is the member and frequent guest of a number of groups, such as Quartet B, Borbély Műhely, Irén Lovász, The Csaba Tűzkő Septett, the East Side Jazz Company, the Mihály Dresch Quartet, C, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, and Mirrorworld.
Aside from performing he also composes. In 2003 he composed Hazám for the Krétakör Theater, as well as Divertimento for Chamber Music and Cymbal, upon the request of the ELTE Orchestra.
Éva Mandula
live animation
In 2001 completed the University of Applied Arts, specializing in animation. Her thesis was an animated film based on a Japanese folk tale entitled The Story of Urasima Taro.
In 2002 it appeared at the Kecskemét Animated Film Festival where it was among the qualifiers.
She worked as an animator for the film Nyócker and worked as a background artist for a variety of animated films.
Since 2002 she has been involved with the background animation for the band Mitsoura. The production used at concerts consists of a pre-prepared and scalable, but concurrently connected, animation. It distinctness is thanks to the hand drawn animations and rich figures that were inspired by the work of gypsy painters (András Balázs Balogh, István Szentandrássy, Gyöngyi Ráczné Kalanyos, Teréz Orsós, Magda Szécsi) as well as a collection of Indian motifs.
In 2002 it appeared at the Kecskemét Animated Film Festival where it was among the qualifiers.
She worked as an animator for the film Nyócker and worked as a background artist for a variety of animated films.
Since 2002 she has been involved with the background animation for the band Mitsoura. The production used at concerts consists of a pre-prepared and scalable, but concurrently connected, animation. It distinctness is thanks to the hand drawn animations and rich figures that were inspired by the work of gypsy painters (András Balázs Balogh, István Szentandrássy, Gyöngyi Ráczné Kalanyos, Teréz Orsós, Magda Szécsi) as well as a collection of Indian motifs.