
Who are Härva?
‘talented, nimble fingered and soulful’ [The Guardian UK]
-
Faith Elliott-Ristic
Faith studied ‘Ethnomusicology’ at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, specialising in Cuban piano and percussion (which she studied in Havana) as well as the music of Eastern Europe, Tabla, Korean percussion, Mbira and Gamelan.
In 2009 she worked as Musical Director for ‘Giffords Circus’ and created radio shorts with BBC Oxford – before travelling to Serbia with the assistance of the Winston Churchill Fund to study the Roma accordion styles of Central Serbia. After an intensive six-month period of study she travelled to Australia to perform with Orchestra Del Sol and returned to work as MD and performer for ‘The Garden of Dreams’ at Live Theatre, Newcastle.
In 2012 she returned to Serbia to implement an Arts Council Overseas Development Grant funded compositional project with Roma musicians and was based in Serbia for the next ten years, appearing regularly on documentaries and cultural programmes. She worked as ‘comedy musical director’ for Giffords Circus, designing and creating original instruments and comedy sketches with Barry Grantham, and created an ‘East meets West’ soundtrack with Director Cal McCrystal for the following year.
With Roma violinist Branko Ristic and ‘Lolo Lovina’ she toured Australia before co-composing and recording the album ‘Gypsy Lover’ with Branko Ristic, produced by Nicholas Hooper/ Emir Kusturica. This was released with World Music Network and placed in the top ten European World Music albums. Awarded an Arts Council grant, www.faithibranko.com toured the UK and Europe in 2016 before working with Lee Lyford and Gwyneth Herbert on the Bristol Old Vic show ‘The Snow Queen’ – combining electro-soundscapes with Roma music.Described by the BBC as 'nimble fingered', she continued to record and produce two albums with players from the No Smoking Orchestra that both reached the Top 10 World Music Charts, and featured on the Rough Guide to World Jazz. For the last five years she has toured extensively in Europe, Australia and NZ – including BBC Sessions, WOMAD, Nisville Jazz Festival and the Royal Festival Hall. She has received a presedential award from the President of Serbia for her cultural work in the Romani Arts, and is currently working on a book about her knowledge of Serbian Romani music and culture.
-
Viljo Busch
Viljo was born in Delemont, Switzerland and moved to Sweden when he was very young. He was surrounded by musical influences whilst growing up - including his grandfather Adolf Busch, an influential German-Swiss Violinist, Conductor and Composer who is widely known for the Busch Quartet. He began playing the violin when he was five and played Hungarian music on the streets with his father since he was six years old. He has sung and played the guitar from the age of twelve.
He left Sweden when he was 20 and on his journey to re-finding his home in Switzerland, lived in many places in France, Austria and Romania. During these travels, he studied and performed classical music; played and learnt the styles of South Romanian Folklore with Taraf de Haidouks, and performed concerts with performers such as Richard Galliano. His performances are influenced by his many experiences in cities, in rural communities, and from his love of being around the many different people he has met in his life and the stories that they tell.
He now lives in the Jura, is a happy and proud partner to Faith, and a proud father to Aijka Busch. -
Lucian Caceres
Lucien is based in Montreux, Switzerland, plays Gypsy Jazz and sings in French and Latin American Spanish. His influences range from Jazz, to Balkan and Latin American music; is a lover of improvised music, and strives for spontaneity and acoustic sounds.
