Winners of the BBC Radio World Music Award for Europe in 2006, the members of Fanfare Ciocârlia have demonstrated in Timişoara that expressions like “demons of speed” and “world’s fastest fanfare” aren’t just stories.

Rampaging crowds and unbelievable rythms is what the 12 Roma that left a village in Moldova, Zece Prăjini, more than ten years ago can deliver. Those who today call themselves Fanfare Ciocârlia have traveled the world and have shown, with Roma beats, mixed with traditional Romanian songs, Turkish or Bulgarian and Macedonian music, that there is no discrimination in music.

Fanfare Ciocârlia members – Costică “Cimai” Trifan, Pancirel “Panjo” Costăndache, Lazăr Rădulescu, Oprică Ivancea, Ioan Ivancea, Daniel Ivancea, Constantin “Pinca” Cântea, Monel “Gutel” Trifan, Constantin “Sulo” Călin, Laurenţiu Mihai Ivancea, Costel “Gisniacă” Ursu – of Zece Prăjini – and Nicolae Ioniţă, of Clejani, integrate traditional music which they play in Balkanic culture.
Fanfare Ciocârlia’s history is as amazing as their music. Discovered by a German sound engineer, the twelve brass singers began their real career 13 years ago, when they left their village Zece Prăjini and became what today makes the audience dance, be it Japanese, Swedish or South American. Without ever following scores, the twelve musicians have recorded six albums so far: “Radio Paşcani”, “Baro Biao – World Wide Wedding”, “Iag Bari – The Gypsy Horns from The Mountains Beyond”, “Gili Garabdi – Ancient Secrets of Gypsy Brass”, “Queens and Kings” and a DVD about their story, “Gypsy Brass Legends-The Story of the Band”.

Fanfare Ciocârlia’s music can be heard not only in concerts, but is also present in movies like “Gegen die Wand,” directed by Fatih Akin which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2004, the animated film “Fallen Art” by Tomasz Bagiński or in the repertoire of electro-rock-metal-alternative music bands like the American band Estradasphere and the list could go on. Also, the feature film “Iag Bari – Brass on Fire”, directed by Ralf Marscalleck is fully connected to the life and story of the members of Fanfare Ciocârlia from Zece Prăjini village. This documentary won the Grand Prize at the Festivalul De Cine Documental Musical in Barcelona and Madrid in 2003 and the Award for Best Documentary Feature Film at the Golden Wheel Rroma Festival for TV and Radio in Skopje, Macedonia.

With such a record, Fanfare Ciocârlia can headline any world music festival in the world. We are proud to have had the twelve instrumentalists from Zece Prăjini at PLAI. The dancing and the madness they will generate will bring us closer to the essence, closer to multiculturalism and art without barriers.

Discography:
2007 CD “Queens and Kings” (CD-ATR 1207)
2005 CD “Gili Garabdi” (CD-ATR 0605)
2004 DVD “Gypsy Brass Legends”” (DVD-ATR 0404)
2001 CD “Iag Bari” (CD-PIR 1577)
1999 CD “Baro Biao” (CD-PIR 1364)
1998 CD “Radio Pascani” (CD-PIR 1254)

Web Resources:
www.fanfare-ciocarlia.com
www.asphalt-tango.de
www.myspace.com/fanfareciocarlia