Fanfare de Transylvanie in Wrocław: Romanian tradition and the sound of a brass orchestra

Fanfare de Transylvanie is an orchestra of Romani musicians from the Romanian village of Cugir in picturesque Transylvania, associated worldwide with Count Dracula. In keeping with Romani musical traditions, the members are brothers or cousins from large musical families.

At a Fanfare de Transylvanie concert, we can feel the true spirit of the Balkans and, for a moment, find ourselves at a Balkan wedding or a wild folk celebration. Most of the band’s music consists of traditional pieces handed down through the generations, drawing on Romani and Romanian folklore and deeply rooted in Moldavian, Saxon-Transylvanian and Transylvanian traditions. Their live repertoire also includes music familiar from Emir Kusturica’s films and pan-Balkan hits popularised worldwide by Goran Bregovic.

They frequently perform outside their region and abroad. Their appearances include the famous Sziget festival in Budapest, TanzFolkFest in Rudolstadt, Germany, Greece (I Pireu in Athens), the Czech Trutnov Open Air festival and Poland, including the prestigious EthnoPort folk music festival in Poznań.

Fanfare de Transylvanie performs with the following line-up:

• Galan Nicolae (flugelhorn)
• Galan Mihai-Rusalin (trumpet)
• Stoica Nicolae (trumpet)
• Dinga Roland (soprano)
• Roman Cristine (baritone horn)
• Batista Maricel (baritone horn)
• Dragomir Marius (tuba)
• Stoica Vasile (tuba)
• Lupu Cornel (bass drum/vocals)