Marius Mihalache: Balkan Fest (Săftița)

Romanian musician and composer Marius Mihalache is one of the world's pre-eminent players of the dulcimer and cimbalon. Stringed instruments that are struck with sticks, like percussion, these instruments are a pre-cursor to the piano and can be found in both European classical and folk musics, the latter particularly in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, some regions of the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Greece, Belarus and Poland, often as part of gypsy folk troupes. In this globally-touring show, Marius Mihalache combines Romanian music with traditional Balkan musics and improvisation/jazz techniques to explore musics of the region in a fresh and exciting new way. With three decades of an illustrious career already behind him, Mihalache has composed several movie scores and collaborated with some of the greatest names in American music, including many jazz greats, such as Chick Corea, Gloria Gaynor, Nina Simone, Kitaro, Steve Vai, Mike Stern, Billy Cobham, Sergio Mendez, Larry Coryell