Katrina will feature her new instrument, the taragot, in performance with the new band, Sâmbra Oilor, on November 21, 2015, at Celtic Junction. The concert and dance party will begin with dance instruction at 7:30 pm with John Omorean, director of the Twin Cities’ Romanian dance ensemble Izvorașul. No partner is necessary although some of the dances do involve partners. At 8:15 the live band will take the stage, and play two sets of music from around Romania, but focusing on the southwest region called Banat.
Sâmbra Oilor includes Sydney Lefevre (violin), Matt Miller (bass), Natalie Nowytski (voice), Jim Parker (guitar and kontra, Eric Ray (accordion), and Jenny Schultz (cimbalom). All the musicians met through the Ethnic Dance Theatre’s (EDT) Folk Orchestra, and are passionate about traditional music from around the world. They take their name from a dance suite they originally performed with EDT in 2007. “Sâmbra Oilor” is a ritual from the Oaș region of Maramureș, to the north of Transylvania and is celebrated in the spring when the shepherds leave their village to journey to their summer pastures with the sheep.
Katrina Mundinger is a fiscal year 2015 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.