Chudoba’s twentieth anniversary: a folk celebration with Bente Kahan and Joanna Słowińska

Ethno Jazz Festival invites you to a special concert by Wrocław band Chudoba, celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The anniversary concert will take place at the White Stork Synagogue, with Chudoba joined by outstanding guests: Bente Kahan, a Norwegian singer of Jewish origin who has lived in Wrocław for years; Joanna Słowińska, one of the most important singers on Poland's folk scene; and her husband Jan, founder of the multi-award-winning Muzykanci.

After the main concert, join us at the Łykend music club for Folkowe Granie with the anniversary artists and guests.

Chudoba is one of the bands that had a major influence on the development of folk music in Poland. Over many years in the music industry, Chudoba developed its own distinctive musical style, recognisable from the very first bars.

As the band members say: “For us, folk is about drawing joy from traditional music. The pleasure of making music comes from sharing the vitality and lyricism preserved in traditional songs and melodies. We play only acoustic instruments, including folk instruments, because they draw out the music's original vitality, inspiring both dancing and the simplest emotions.

We play and sing our own arrangements of melodies and vocal transcriptions of traditional songs from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe: Polish, Slovak, Moravian, Ukrainian, Lemko, Hutsul, Gypsy, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Romanian, Jewish and Hungarian.”

The group formed in 1993 at the initiative of University of Wrocław students fascinated by folk music. From the outset, they took part in numerous festivals and cultural events, winning prizes and distinctions. Beyond Poland, Chudoba have performed in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, the USA, Italy and Hungary. Their appearances have included TVP and TV Polonia, Austria’s 3SAT television, Polish Radio and Belgium’s Radio 1.

In 1998, the band won the Grand Prix at the first Polish edition of the “Nowa Tradycja” Folk Music Competition, organised by Polish Radio in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union. A year later, Chudoba represented Poland at The New Tradition EBU Folk Festival in Dranouter, Belgium. In 2000, they were the only Polish act to appear at the prestigious Worldwide Music Expo WOMEX in Berlin. In 2006, Chudoba successfully represented Poland musically at the FIFA World Cup, appearing among the stars of Etno Cup Day in Hanover. For many years, the group have been invited to festivals and concerts throughout Europe. In 2012, they began preparing a new album under the patronage of the City of Wrocław and European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016.