Savor Serbia-style tambura music by the Bajich Brothers quartet from Kansas at the Library of Congress at Noon today, September 17, 2008. The free concert is in the Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building (Independence Ave. and 1st St., SE), an acoustically outstanding chamber. Be sure to allow extra time to get through security.
The tambura is an Eastern European fretted stringed instrument played with a pick. In Serbia, it is especially popular in the Northwestern part of the country. The instrument is often known by the diminutive name Tamburitza or Tamburica. Nationalist movements of the early 19th century gave rise to tambura orchestras, found at several U.S. colleges. Tambura enthusiasts often call themselves “Tammies.”
The Bajich brothers (Boris, Paul, Peter and Robert) are descendants of Serbian immigrants who moved to Kansas in the 1890s to work in the meat-packing industry. Weddings and festivals at Kansas City’s St. George Orthodox Church and Serbian parties could not be held without these respected musicians.
If you haven’t heard this exciting music before, save planefare to KC or Serbia — go to this free concert. If you are in DC and haveheard tambura music before, you’ve probably shut down your computer and headed to the Library by now.
The Bajich Brothers are presented by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. See the rest of the concert schedule here.
June 18, 2010 at 12:09 am
How can I hear the recording of the Bajich Brothers of Kansas City at the Coolidge Auditorium on Sept. 17, 2008?
June 18, 2010 at 9:46 am
Tijana Bajich Samardzija wrote: How can I hear the recording of the Bajich Brothers of Kansas City at the Coolidge Auditorium on Sept. 17, 2008?
There is a webcast here (running time 1:12:47)