ALEXANDER FEDORIOUK

Alexander Fedoriouk began playing the cimbalom at the age of 7 in his home-town of Kolomyia, Ukraine. Growing up in the Carpathian Mountains, he played at weddings in mountain villages in Ukraine and Moldavia. He studied music at the Kolomyia Music School, Chernivsty Musical College and received his Bachelor's degree in music from The Kiev State Conservatory. He has performed as a soloist with New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Orchestra Nashville, Johnstown Symphony, Youngstown Youth Orchestra, New York Chamber Ensemble, The Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, Troisty Muzyky Folk Ensemble, The Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, The Duquesne University Tamburitzans, Cheres and Harmonia. He appeared in the Ukrainian musical movies, Pisne Kalynova and Namysto Dlia Berehyni. He received awards at the national competition on folk instruments in 1987 and 1991 in Ukraine, and in Nebraska in 1997.

Since he has been in the United States, he has been featured as a soloist on a number of recordings: The Art of the Cimbalom, Harmonia, Cheres, Unblocked, The World in Our Backyard, Klezsqueese... He has recorded with Nigel Pulsford of Bush, legendary jazz flautist Herbie Mann and performed in Carnegie hall with John Cale of the Velvet Underground.

KALMAN MAGYAR

Kalman Magyar was born in New Jersey in 1973 to Hungarian immigrant parents who were actively involved in the perpetuation of their heritage throughout North America. At the age of five, Kalman was introduced to the violin through the Suzuki Method, and went on to study for a decade with Stanley Bednar at the Manhattan School of Music's Preparatory Division, where he also studied piano and viola, in addition to his intensive work in jazz, composition and theory. He rose to become the School's principal violist until his graduation in 1991.

Parallel with his rigorous classical and jazz training, Kalman studied at folk music camps and seminars throughout the United States and Hungary. His early mentors included the late legendary Transylvanian fiddler Sándor Fodor 'Neti' and Béla Halmos, one of the 'Godfathers' of the Hungarian folk music revival movement. In 1987, together with his sister Ildikó and fellow Hungária Folkdance Ensemble member Attila Papp, he founded the Életfa Hungarian Folk Music Band, which still exists today and is one of the United States' treasured assets of world music.

In 1991, Kalman was awarded a prestigious full scholarship from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh to perform with the Tamburitzans, the nation's leading Eastern European music and dance troupe. He toured within all four corners of the North American continent while receiving a Bachelor in Science degree from Duquesne's Business School. Through the Tamburitzans, Kalman was exposed to the fascinating world of Romanian and Balkan music, which was a logical extension of his Hungarian background.

INNOVATIVE TALENTS

In 1995, after returning to the New Jersey area, Kalman formed the Continental Dance Orchestra, the leading American-Hungarian 'wedding band' in the United States, and helped build Életfa into an internationally-known ensemble. He was a founding member of Dallam-Dougou, a fusion between West-African and Hungarian musical styles with a jazz twist, and performed for many years with New York's Equinox rock band. His vision also helped shape the maverick group Crossing Paths, together with cimbalom player Alexander Fedoriouk.

Kalman's classical, jazz and folk musical education and intensive performing experience has propelled him to become an in-demand violinists in the Hungarian, Romanian, Balkan, Gypsy, and Gypsy-Jazz styles, with the ability of offering wide-ranging improvisative skills. Although his primary instruments are the violin (electric and acoustic) and keyboards, Kalman also plays the viola, trumpet-violin, Hungarian kontra, bass guitar, and double bass.

PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE

Kalman has collaborated and performed with several well-known artists, including the Mark Morris Dance Group, Márta Sebestyén, Raif Hyseni & Merita Halili, Kálmán Balogh Gypsy Band, Ismael Lumanovski (Smajko), Peter Stan, Souren Baronian, Ökrös Ensemble, Ivan Milev, Harmonia, Beyond the Pale, and Zlatne Uste. In 2003, Kalman was plucked from a great number of violinists to audition for Cirque du Soleil by its casting department. He has played for celebrities, politicians and dignitaries at the United Nations, Hungarian Consulate in New York, the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the New York and New Jersey Governors' Mansions, the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London, New York City's Gracie Mansion, and even at a U.S. Senator's private residence.

Kalman has appeared in world-class venues such as Epcot Center (Orlando, Florida), Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), B.B. King's Blues Club (NYC), Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center), Joe's Pub (NYC), Fiddler's Elbow (London, UK), Knitting Factory (NYC), Place-des-Arts (Montréal), Bitter End (NYC), New Jersey State Theater, Tonic (NYC), HotHouse (Chicago), Brooklyn Academy of Music, Trumpets Jazz Club (Montclair, NJ), Liberty State Park and the Statute of Liberty, Tennessee Performing Arts Center (Nashville), Living Arts Centre (Mississauga), Town Hall (NYC), Heinz & Benedum Halls (Pittsburgh), the World Trade Center (NYC), and with the Christmas Revels on Broadway (at Symphony Space). The many other cities he has played in include Sao Paolo (Brazil), New Orleans, Las Vegas, Toronto, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Boston, Austin, San Diego, Detroit and Cleveland.

Kalman has been a featured performer at several music festivals, including the St. Ceciliatide International Music Festival (London, UK), DjangoFest Chicago, Clearwater Revival Festival (New York), South American Hungarian Folkdance Festival in Caracas (Venezuela), Classical Mandolin Society of America Convention (Toronto), Salon De Virtuosi (New York), Millrace Festival (Cambridge, Ontario), International Flower Festival (Hungary), Budapest Spring and August 20th Festivals (Hungary), Eisteddfod Traditional Music Festival (Brooklyn), and scores of Hungarian Music and Dance Festivals (Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Louisiana, New York).

MUSICAL INITIATIVES

Kalman has arranged music for the Tamburitzans and several other Hungarian and Balkan performing dance groups. His own music has been featured on soundtracks of films such as 'Mix', a Lovy Brothers film, and 'Haunted', a short film produced by Different Studios. He also composed music for and performed on CBS's nationally televised 'Sunday Morning' show. He has appeared live on WQXR and WFMU radio stations and WNBC television in New York City and his recordings can regularly be heard on various radio stations around the world.

Kalman has taught violin and ensemble classes at the Balkan Folk Music & Dance Workshops in New York and California (Mendocino) organized by the East European Folklife Center, and at the American Hungarian Folklore Center's Folkdance and Music Symposia in Pennsylvania. He also plays the organ, piano and violin at Roman Catholic parishes.

Kalman has personally appeared on several recordings with a wide array of artists. He also produced Visszhang (Echo) for Hungaria Records, a compilation of Hungarian folk bands from North America, the first of its kind outside of Hungary.

Together with his wife and three children, Kalman now lives in Toronto, Canada.

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