NEW ALBUM OUT NOW!

LAKVAR present their new album, Fiction and Folklore, following their successful debut album, “Sabotage and Tradition” from 2020. In Fiction and Folklore, LAKVAR masterfully capture the deeply rooted essence of folklore and fuse it with a dose of fiction. The album represents a journey born of a complex identity, that extends through the nebulous origins of the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Europe, deep into the roots of the Earth.

LAKVAR combine infectious melodies, hypnotic arrangements, poignant lyrics, and memories of a homeland that may have never existed, to create a captivating album.

LAKVAR were very pleased to feature on the album renowned guest musicians: Hungarian tambura virtuoso Áron Eredics (Söndörgö) and Hungarian percussion maestro Kornél Mogyoró (five-time recipient of the Percussionist of the Year award in Hungary).

LAKVAR is not a band that can be confined to predefined “transcultural” categories; they create their own musical identity beyond conventional boundaries. Their bold, genre-defying sound and absolute self-determination reflect their determination to realize their vision that in music, there are no boundaries, only the freedom to achieve the impossible. taking your time for.’

About Fiction and Folklore
“They are all rebels, people who question authority, who do not tolerate being patronised. Proud Central Europe meets the infamous Balkans, meets the Caucasus, attracting and repelling each other, for all eternity. They refuse to accept their shared fate, never quite belonging to Europe and always standing on the edge. A half-continent crashing on its journey. That is Eastern Europe. The Caucasus. We no longer know for sure when and where. Maybe it was in Austria, or elsewhere, west of the Carpathians. In a sharp, dangerous curve, a plunge into the abyss. Those who leave their homeland are doomed to suffer endlessly. Those who leave their homeland are free. The expulsion from paradise is the beginning of history. Before that, there is nothing to tell. ‘Aki Dudás akar lenni, pokolra kell annak menni’. Even in hell, one can feel at home. Experiences become ingrained in flesh and blood, passed down through generations. Folklore is an intergenerational experience. Homeland is merely a construct. We think it, we piece it together in our minds. Nothing exists outside of the moment. Everything we think is fiction. Fate catches up with us at bus stops, at ATMs, on the first date, at the funeral of parents, while warming milk, in the evening at the theatre dressing room. Everywhere. Saying yes to fate. The abyss is a beautiful place, warm winds blow in it, entrails and hearts swirl through the air. Death makes the earth fertile. Folklore is not a form but a door to the infinite in front of me, behind me, below me, above me. There is no homeland, no security, no eternal happy love. Christmas trees are eaten by elephants. Folklore is the opposite of kitsch. It is the dedication to life with all its pain and without trigger warnings. Hungarian. Bulgarian. Georgian. Everything. ‘I cut my finger, but it doesn’t hurt.’ We are shaken and stirred to tears, which, already overripe, fall from our eyes. Tears are real. And so is laughter.”
– by Kincses Réka, Film Director

LAKVAR Biography

LAKVAR is a contemporary folk music band based in Stuttgart and founded in 2017 by Hungarian- Bulgarian composer, singer, percussionist, and activist Hajnalka Péter, and Georgian composer, guitarist and panduri player Zura Dzagnidze. LAKVAR’s sound combines the musical and cultural backgrounds of the band members. LAKVAR draws from traditional folk music of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, as well as jazz, pop, progressive rock, electronic music, and experimental elements. Not bound by purist folk conventions, they take musical risks to break through the genres and boundaries of different music traditions and open new paths between them. LAKVAR’s sound is characterised by memorable melodies, complex rhythms, deep emotions, mystical sounds, and virtuoso improvisations.

Lakvar members:

· Hajnalka Péter (HU/BGR)

· Zura Dzagnidze (GEO)

· Péter Papesch (HU)

· Aleksejs Maslakovs (LVA)

· Florian Vogel (D)

· Jochen Spahr(D)

· Kornél Mogyoró (HU)

Their debut album, Sabotage & Tradition, received a nomination in 2020 for the German Record Critics’ Award in the World Music category. It reached number five in the Balkan World Music Charts (WMC) and was selected as one of the Top 200 albums of WMC 2020.

Debut album „Sabotage and Tradition“

* Nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award 2020 (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik)’

* No. 5 of the ‘Balkan World Music Chart – The First Quarter 2020’

“…the debut album demonstrates the full range of their folk and musical credentials…Hajnalka Péter’s growing vocal reputation is evident throughout as she stitches the songs together, awakes the senses and provides everything from energy, vibrancy, softness and intrigue that complements”
Songlines Magazine, UK ****“

…this debut album as a whole are true jackpots”
Lira Music Magazine, Sweden

“…the Sabotage and Tradition album attracts attention and there is no escape from there, we just fly with the music” Ekultura, Hungary

“…better to listen to this surprising debut!” Blogfoolk, Italy

“…Lakvar’s music sounds like gypsy musicians jamming with the Weather Report
in the Danube Delta.” Ritmus és Hang, Hungary

Concerts

10.12.2024 – Müpa Budapest (HU) feat. Áron Eredics

26.01.2024 – Kulturhaus Schwanen Waiblingen

06.12.2023 -Theaterhaus Stuttgart

05.12.2023 – Theaterhaus Stuttgart

30.11.2023 – Raketenradio LIVE Konzert

12.10.2023 – Release Konzert Laboratorium

12.08.2023 – Sziget Festival Hungary

11.08.2023 – Magyar Zene Háza Hungary

04.08 2023 – Silk Studio Tbilisi Georgia

02.08.2023 – Leno Records Georgia

01.08.2023 – Jazz Cafe Konga Tbilisi Georgia

22.03.2023 – Verdi Schlossplatz Stuttgart

12.07.2022 – Sommerfestival der Kulturen Stuttgart

30.03.2022 – Jazz Club BIX Stuttgart

09.09.2021 – Together Festival Stuttgart

25.07.2020 – Art Gene Festival Tbilisi Georgia
24.07.2020 – Zazanova Tbilisi Georgia
22.07.2020 – Backstage 76 Tbilisi Georgia
20.07.2020 – Bridge Hostel Records Tbilisi Georgia
14.07.2020 – Festival der Kulturen Römerkastell Stuttgart
20.06.2020 – Hafen Flaneur Salon Bad-Cannstatt
20.06.2020 – Early Pálinka Konzert Filderstadt
27.02.2020 – Laboratorium Stuttgart
11.05.2019 – Adler Meidlstetten
01.05.2019 – St. Maria Stuttgart Roma & Sinti Festival
09.03.2019 – Schwäbisch Gmünd Gmünd Folk e.V
02.12.2018 – Theaterhaus Stuttgart
12.10.2018 – Heidelberg Festival
15.09.2018 – Mannheim Festival
12.09.2018 – Mannheim
28.07.2018 – Sommerfest Kulturinsel Stuttgart
01.05.2018 – Lakvar // DGB Marktplatz Bietigheim – Bissingen
03.02.2018 – Laboratorium, Stuttgart
16.12.2017 – Winnenden
15.12.2017 – Rakete, Stuttgart
11.10.2017 – Theater hinterm Scheuerntor

Video

Bio

‘If the voice of a human being contains her entire universe, then it is the voice of LAKVAR singer Hajnalka Péter. Her voice gives everything she is. And there is nothing more than giving oneself.’
Kincses Réka film director

LAKVAR are a Contemporary Folk Music group, founded by Hungarian-Bulgarian singer Hajnalka Péter and Georgian composer and guitarist Zura Dzagnidze. The band includes an array of talented and diverse musicians: Hungarian Jazz bass player Péter Papesch, Bulgarian-Turkish percussionist Tayfun Ates, German Jazz violin player Florian Vogel, Italian drummer Santino Scavelli and Latvian accordion player Aleksejs Maslakovs.

LAKVAR’S sound brings together the band’s musical and cultural backgrounds, drawing on roots in traditional Folk from East of Europe, Jazz, as well as progressive Rock and experimental influences. The music plays with darkness and light to create a unique sound. Strong and soaring melodies combine with complex rhythms, moments of stillness and fragility meet free and fearless improvisation and virtuosity. Hajnalka’s vocal character use different traditional styles to unlock gates to hidden emotional, emerging from the music like a mystical and ancient spell.

Not limited by convention, LAKVAR take musical risks to break through the borders and boundaries of musical tradition and open up new path between them.