Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos is not only a scorching virtuoso, but also a musician of extraordinary stylistic versatility. Equally comfortable performing classical music as he is playing jazz and in his own Hungarian folk idiom, Lakatos is the rare musician who defies definition. Lakatos brings his rejuvenated Ensemble to Cornell's Bailey Hall at 8:00 pm on April 24th for a concert of matchless virtuosity and surprising repertoire ideas including long forgotten melodies set in totally new and original arrangements.

Born in 1965 into the legendary family of gypsy violinists descended from Janos Bihari, 'King of Gypsy Violinists', Roby Lakatos was introduced to music as a child and at age nine he made his public debut as first violin in a gypsy band. He is referred to as a gypsy violinist or 'devil’s fiddler', a classical virtuoso, a jazz improviser, a composer and arranger, and a 19th-century throwback, and he is actually all of these things at once.

Lakatos’ new Ensemble includes an array of young Hungarian musicians aged 19-25 who breathe exuberance and inventiveness into traditional melodies and folk songs. For their Cornell engagement, they will highlight works from Lakatos’ most recent album 'La Passion', released in 2013.

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