1:00pm • No Cover

SZIKRA

Celebrate America 250 with SZIKRA, where the raw, driving sounds of Hungarian
Csángó folk music collide with American blues, roots, and folk traditions. Ancient
melodies, fiery rhythms, flute, koboz, jaw harp, guitar, percussion, and voice come
together in a one-of-a-kind musical fusion.

From the villages of Eastern Europe to an American roadhouse stage, SZIKRA brings
the spark to Hank Dietle’s!

Genre: Traditional Hungarian Csángó folk music with medieval roots.

Szikra plays traditional Hungarian dance music of the Csángó people
from Moldva and Gyimes in Romania. The energetic, ancient pulse of this music ignites
the dancers' fervor, and inspired the band name Szikra, which means "spark" in
Hungarian. Csángó dances are lively and easy to follow, and include both line and
couple dances, many with syncopated rhythms.

Emese leads Szikra on the woodwind instruments, sültü (short flute) and kaval (long
flute); Chris plays doromb (mouth harp); Val plucks the koboz (lute); and Joseph
provides percussion on dob (drum) and ütőgardon (hit cello). Szikra often plays with
other musicians, adding to the richness of the music with additional woodwind and
stringed instruments, such as hegedű (fiddle) and cimbalom (hammer dulcimer).

Since its formation in 2014, Szikra performs regularly at cultural events and Hungarian
dance house parties (táncház-es) in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Michigan,
New Jersey, and New York. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook.