Dear peoples, This term is a wonderfully special one for the Balkan Village Band! The whole group is lovingly supporting Gundula’s Great Eurasian Roam — an epic journey in her van. You can find all the details right here: https://www.magicviolin.uk/fieldwork-knowledge 🚐🎻 We’ve got a cracking lineup of special in-person and online workshops ahead, including some sessions by Gundula from exotic places and incredible guest instructors. Non-regular participants and guests are v

It's time to walk down memory lane for another chapter of our London Gypsy Orchestra archive series! 🎻✨ 2012 was a year that marked the beginning of the final chapter of my era leading the orchestra. It was a time of grand stages, bold and fun creative risks, and some of our most ambitious community projects to date! From braving freezing snowstorms and layering winter woolies over our colorful stage outfits for a Crisis fundraiser, to carving instruments out of root veggies

Finally, I made my way into the very first uncharted territory of this trip! Yet, entering Slovenia started off with a total lack of fanfare—just a tiny Landesgrenze sign bidding farewell to Austria. The motorway rolled on, immaculate and pristine, flanked by mountains that remained breathtakingly majestic 🏔️✨ Majestic mountains ... breath taking Then came my first real driving scare of the voyage. The skies suddenly ripped open, unleashing a torrential downpour as if heaven

Start of term: 13th September 2026 - in person in Bethnal Green and online on zoom. The term will have 10 sessions as usual, however, we are looking forward to a lot of SPECIAL EVENTS - please watch this space for details :-)

There was a truly magical chapter in the history of the London Gypsy Orchestra when raw passion, community learning, and traditional artistry converged on stage. At the center of it was our deep collaboration with Polish Romani master Marek "Ricardo" Czureja and his guitarist son Benjamin, working side by side with me. Together, we brought to life the Gypsy-It! and Gypsy Exchange projects — initiatives I was proud to organize and secure funding for. We combined traditional Ro

I feel like I'm lingering a little too long in the "Euro" chapter of this journey, itching to push forward toward the Asian horizon! 🌍✨ However, there are soooo many kilometres to cover. In addition, a veritable mountain of paperwork has accumulated that feels steeper than climbing any of my alpine mountain peaks 🏔️ of the few days—only without the view 🧗‍♀️. Along the way, I uncovered a major cultural and infrastructural gap between the UK and Germany/Austria: finding a c

This period follows a cherished ritual we’ve tried to complete annually for more than 20 years: a multi-day mountain hiking tour, trekking from hut to summit, peak to peak, for around five glorious days 🧗‍♀️🌲. This tradition is a wonderful leftover from when I still lived in Germany, back when we tackled mountain trails several times a year. Miraculously, we still manage to make it happen more than half the time! Over the years, we have covered vast stretches of the German

Finally, I’ve finished the most necessary family visiting duties and kept them short enough that everyone stayed happy, alive, and smiling! 😄🏡 Now, I can truly indulge in what I love most—something deeply healing, empowering, and sooooo satisfying: practicing my violin out in the wild woods 🌳🎶. Years ago, while preparing for my final exam at the Leopold Mozart Konservatorium, I spent day in, day out practicing in the forests 🎻. With six to eight hours of daily practice a

After the thrill of being on the ferry (I LOVE ferries! 😍) and the initial nervous butterflies of driving on the right—which quickly turned out to be completely natural and easy—I aimed straight for the south as fast as possible 💨, quite a feat for someone who usually gets restless after an hour on the motorway! 😅 To keep the journey inspiring, I spend my time with singing practice 🎶, study languages from audio guides, and learn lyrics for new songs from my own practice r