Take two Spaniards and a Londoner; mix together with a liberal dose of traditional tunes from the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Klezmer music; add a handful of original compositions and an array of traditional instruments; stir well; then add a pinch of theater, valencian lyrics, humour and a touch of polish temperament and sit back and enjoy the unique sound of Besarabia!
With their sparkling interpretations of balkan and klezmer music, the trio Besarabia transport the listener to a musical landscape inhabited by different cultures and traditions. Their musical journey travels from Bulgaria to Mahgreb, via Romania, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey.
"The Journey Begins...."
This is how Besarabia's concerts begin. Their music illustrates the influence and interaction between countries & continents over the centuries. Journeys from east to west, via the balkan peninsula, of jews, Romanians, gypsies, arabs & turks, who travelled with their music and traditions.
Heidi Erbrich was born in London, but was no typical English girl, with Polish, Czech, Swiss and English blood. Her parents could be called the original "world music" fans with an eclectic record collection ranging from Greek balalaika music to German beer drinking songs and taking their children to see every dance/ music company visiting London from countries such as Hungary, Russia, Poland and Bulgaria.
However her studies on the violin led her down a more classical path: studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Royal Conservatory in the Hague & the Sweelinck Conservatory of music in Amsterdam and following a successful career as a baroque violinist in renowned orchestras and early music groups all over Europe. But her bohemian, inquisitive musical soul also led her into dabbling in jazz, South American music, free improvisation, rock, klezmer and folk until finally arriving in Spain she found like-minded spirits and Besarabia was born.
Jaume Pallardó began his musical life at the Centro Instructivo de Arte y Cultura in La Vall d'Ulxó with the clarinet. He received his degree at the Conservatory of La Vall d'Uixó. Later he started studying the electric bass with Jose Miguel Fenollosa and Kodi and iniciated his own bands La Big Bong Band and Crim(mental). Later on he became interested in traditional music and has studied instruments such as the tombak with Pedram Khavarzamini and Diego López , bendir and riq with Vassilis Sarkis, the lute with Stelios Petrakis and saz with Efrén Lopez.
Eva Mª Domingo, actress and musician, started to study traditional music relatively late on in her career. After finishing her theatre studies she founded her own music/theatre group Rodamons-Trencaclosques with whom she started developing an interest in renaissance and medieval music. She recorded several cd's with them and played numerous concert all around Spain.She studied classical percussion at the Agrupación Musical Los Silos in Burjassot. In recent years she has become increasingly interested in music from Andalusia, classical Arab music, and music from Egypt, Iran and the Balkan regions. She has studied with Joansa Maravilla, Diego López, Pedram Khavarzamini and Bijam Cheminari. She has also developed an interest in Valencian and Spanish folk music, studying with Vanesa Muela and Eliseo Parra, which has led to her participating in prestigious festivals such as Plasencia Folk and Pilar Folk.