About Harmonia

Walt Mahovlich, Accordion
Harmonia's founder, Walt Mahovlich, grew up listening to the Croatian and Hungarian music of his family. He got his start playing Croatian and Macedonian weddings at the age of 19, and spent much of his youth playing with traditional village musicians. He's played extensively at traditional events for East European immigrant communities throughout the United States and Canada as well as in frequent concert tours of Europe. His career has included performances at Smotra Foklora in Zagreb, Croatia, the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife, Jimmy Carter's Inaugural, the Rededication of Ellis Island, the Bicentennial Celebration of the Constitution in Philadelphia as well as performances in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Walt made his off-Broadway debut in Tony Kushner's adaptation of the S. Ansky classic, A Dybbuk, performing at New York's Public Theater and appeared in the film, The Suicide. Walt's been a faculty member at the Balkan Arts Music Camp as well as director of the Cleveland Tamburitzans. His album, Nova Domovina: Balkan Slavic Music from the Industrial Midwest won the Unesco award for ethnomusicology.

In addition to appearing on CDs with Harmonia Walt's clarinet playing is also featured on Budowitz: Mother Tongue on the Koch International label.
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Alexander Fedoriouk, Cimbalom
Alexander Fedoriouk began playing the cimbalom at the age of 7 in his home-town of Kolomyia, Ukraine. Growing up in the Carpathian mountains, he played at weddings in mountain villages in Ukraine and Moldavia. He studied music at the Kolomyia Music School, Chernivsty Musical College and received his Bachelor's degree in music from The Kiev State Conservatory. He has performed as a soloist with The Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, Troisty Muzyky Folk Ensemble, The Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, The Duquesne University Tamburitzans and Cheres. He appeared in the Ukrainian musical movies, Pisne Kalynova and Namysto Dlia Berehyni. He received awards at the national competition on folk instruments in 1987 and 1991 in Ukraine, and in Nebraska in 1997.

Since he has been in the United States he has been featured as a soloist on a number of recordings: Cheres - From the Mountains to the Steppes (B Sharp Records), Unblocked (Ellipsis Records), The World in Our Backyard (Chubby Dragon) and Klezsqueese (Bon Air). He has recorded with Nigel Pulsford of Bush, legendary jazz flautist Herbie Mann and performed in Carnegie hall with John Cale of the Velvet Undeground.
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Marko Dreher, Violin
The son of a traditional Croatian folk musician Marko Dreher has grown up steeped in the musical traditions of Eastern-Europe. He started classical violin lessons at the age of three and was soon sitting in with his father's gypsy orchestra. At twelve he entered the music program at Southern Illinois University where he studied under John Kendall. Marko has won numerous awards for his violin and viola performances and has soloed with many orchestras in the US and in Europe. At the age of 13 Marko became a member of the Illinios Symphony Orchestra. In 1997 he soloed with the world renowned chamber orchestra "I SOLOISTI DI ZAGREB in Zagreb, Croatia. He performs on tamburica regularly with the Jerry Grcevich Tamburica Orkestar and continues to play violin with his father's tamburica orchestra, Cigani. In Croatia he recorded with Sharmeri and has toured with such singers as Zvonko Bogdan and Miro Skoro. He has performed at Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Hall, Powell Hall in St. Louis, Detroit Symphony Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland and The Metropolitan Musem of Art. In 1998 Marko was the youngest recipient of the Tamburitza Association of America's Founder's Award. Marko graduated with a degree in violin and viola performance from the Oberlin Conservatory where he studied with Roland and Almita Vamos. In 2002 he completed his masters degree at The Cleveland Institute of Music.
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Andrei Pidkivka, Panflute (Nai), Sopilka (folk flute)
A native of Ukraine, Andrei Pidkivka graduated from the Lviv Conservatory, with a degree in both folk and classical music. By the time he was 18 he was already principle flutist for the Ukrainian folk ensemble, Unist. He has since then performed with several professional ensembles including the Lviv Philharmonic State Symphony Orchestra, Virnist. In 1992 Mr. Pidkivka was featured as a soloist on ethnic flutes with Ukrainian National Military Orchestra at the Second International Music Festival of Military Bands in Krakow, Poland. His talents have brought him to France, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States. Since coming to the United States, he has received a Masters Degree in Flute performance at Youngstown State University. At the present time, Andrei makes ethnic flutes and gives presentations on Eastern European Folk Music at Universities and Colleges. He plays extensively in concerts and music festivals including performances at the Kennedy Center for the Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Folk Alliance Conference.
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Beata Begeniova, Vocals
Born in Medzilaborce, in Eastern Slovakia, Beata Begeniova grew up surrounded by Slovak and Rusyn folk songs sung by her family. She attended the music high school in Prešov and received her music degree from J. P. Safarik University in Slovakia. While still a student, she was featured as a soloist on many recordings and radio broadcasts and received numerous awards in folk song competitions. A featured soloist with the professional Rusyn ensemble Dukla in Prešov, she toured Europe and North America with Šarišan.
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Adam Good, Bass
A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Harmonia bassist Adam Good has lived in New York City since 1996. With a foundation in jazz guitar, Adam's interest in the music of Eastern Europe began around '94 and by the time he joined TITO'S REVENGE (Electric Balkan Music), he was hooked. His talent on tambura, ud and guitar playing Macedonian and Bulgarian dance and folk music (as well as the music of Greece, Albania, Turkey, etc.) has made Adam a fixture of New York's Balkan music scene. He has played with the Bulgarian group KOLEVI 6, the Macedonian Izvorno ensembles 9 OLIVES and IZGORI and SIDESHOW, a band dedicated to an improvisatory approach to the music of Charles Ives. "SIDESHOW: Songs of Charles Ives" was recently released as their debut CD on Blueshift records. In 2002 Folksounds Records released Adam's "Dances of Macedonia and the Balkans", a CD devoted entirely to the Macedonian Izvorno style. Adam also enjoys teaching private lessons in the New York City area and has taught Macedonian tambura at the Eastern European Folklife Center's Balkan Music and Dance Camp at Ramblewood, Maryland.
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Gheorghe Trâmbitas, Taragot
A native of Fagaras, Romania Gheorghe Trâmbitas started playing the taragot at an early age. His orchestra played throughout Transylvania, where he was know for his amazing speed and virtuosity on the taragot. Gheorghe received his formal musical training at the Conservatory in Brasov, Romania. Before coming to the United States in 1990, he performed throughout Romania and Europe. In addition to taragot, Gheorge is a master of several Romanian folk instruments and in 1997 was featured at the National Folk Festival.

	Walt Mahovlich, Accordion Harmonia's founder, Walt Mahovlich, grew up listening to the Croatian and Hungarian music of his family. He got his start playing Croatian and Macedonian weddings at the age of 19, and spent much of his youth playing with traditional village musicians. He's played extensively at traditional events for East European immigrant communities throughout the United States and Canada as well as in frequent concert tours of Europe. His career has included performances at Smotra Foklora in Zagreb, Croatia, the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife, Jimmy Carter's Inaugural, the Rededication of Ellis Island, the Bicentennial Celebration of the Constitution in Philadelphia as well as performances in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Walt made his off-Broadway debut in Tony Kushner's adaptation of the S. Ansky classic, A Dybbuk, performing at New York's Public Theater and appeared in the film, The Suicide. Walt's been a faculty member at the Balkan Arts Music Camp as well as director of the Cleveland Tamburitzans. His album, Nova Domovina: Balkan Slavic Music from the Industrial Midwest won the Unesco award for ethnomusicology. In addition to appearing on CDs with Harmonia Walt's clarinet playing is also featured on Budowitz: Mother Tongue on the Koch International label. email
	Alexander Fedoriouk, Cimbalom Alexander Fedoriouk began playing the cimbalom at the age of 7 in his home-town of Kolomyia, Ukraine. Growing up in the Carpathian mountains, he played at weddings in mountain villages in Ukraine and Moldavia. He studied music at the Kolomyia Music School, Chernivsty Musical College and received his Bachelor's degree in music from The Kiev State Conservatory. He has performed as a soloist with The Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, Troisty Muzyky Folk Ensemble, The Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, The Duquesne University Tamburitzans and Cheres. He appeared in the Ukrainian musical movies, Pisne Kalynova and Namysto Dlia Berehyni. He received awards at the national competition on folk instruments in 1987 and 1991 in Ukraine, and in Nebraska in 1997. Since he has been in the United States he has been featured as a soloist on a number of recordings: Cheres - From the Mountains to the Steppes (B Sharp Records), Unblocked (Ellipsis Records), The World in Our Backyard (Chubby Dragon) and Klezsqueese (Bon Air). He has recorded with Nigel Pulsford of Bush, legendary jazz flautist Herbie Mann and performed in Carnegie hall with John Cale of the Velvet Undeground. email homepage
	Marko Dreher, Violin The son of a traditional Croatian folk musician Marko Dreher has grown up steeped in the musical traditions of Eastern-Europe. He started classical violin lessons at the age of three and was soon sitting in with his father's gypsy orchestra. At twelve he entered the music program at Southern Illinois University where he studied under John Kendall. Marko has won numerous awards for his violin and viola performances and has soloed with many orchestras in the US and in Europe. At the age of 13 Marko became a member of the Illinios Symphony Orchestra. In 1997 he soloed with the world renowned chamber orchestra "I SOLOISTI DI ZAGREB in Zagreb, Croatia. He performs on tamburica regularly with the Jerry Grcevich Tamburica Orkestar and continues to play violin with his father's tamburica orchestra, Cigani. In Croatia he recorded with Sharmeri and has toured with such singers as Zvonko Bogdan and Miro Skoro. He has performed at Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Hall, Powell Hall in St. Louis, Detroit Symphony Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland and The Metropolitan Musem of Art. In 1998 Marko was the youngest recipient of the Tamburitza Association of America's Founder's Award. Marko graduated with a degree in violin and viola performance from the Oberlin Conservatory where he studied with Roland and Almita Vamos. In 2002 he completed his masters degree at The Cleveland Institute of Music. email
	Andrei Pidkivka, Panflute (Nai), Sopilka (folk flute) A native of Ukraine, Andrei Pidkivka graduated from the Lviv Conservatory, with a degree in both folk and classical music. By the time he was 18 he was already principle flutist for the Ukrainian folk ensemble, Unist. He has since then performed with several professional ensembles including the Lviv Philharmonic State Symphony Orchestra, Virnist. In 1992 Mr. Pidkivka was featured as a soloist on ethnic flutes with Ukrainian National Military Orchestra at the Second International Music Festival of Military Bands in Krakow, Poland. His talents have brought him to France, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States. Since coming to the United States, he has received a Masters Degree in Flute performance at Youngstown State University. At the present time, Andrei makes ethnic flutes and gives presentations on Eastern European Folk Music at Universities and Colleges. He plays extensively in concerts and music festivals including performances at the Kennedy Center for the Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Folk Alliance Conference. email
	Beata Begeniova, Vocals Born in Medzilaborce, in Eastern Slovakia, Beata Begeniova grew up surrounded by Slovak and Rusyn folk songs sung by her family. She attended the music high school in Prešov and received her music degree from J. P. Safarik University in Slovakia. While still a student, she was featured as a soloist on many recordings and radio broadcasts and received numerous awards in folk song competitions. A featured soloist with the professional Rusyn ensemble Dukla in Prešov, she toured Europe and North America with Šarišan. email
	Adam Good, Bass A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Harmonia bassist Adam Good has lived in New York City since 1996. With a foundation in jazz guitar, Adam's interest in the music of Eastern Europe began around '94 and by the time he joined TITO'S REVENGE (Electric Balkan Music), he was hooked. His talent on tambura, ud and guitar playing Macedonian and Bulgarian dance and folk music (as well as the music of Greece, Albania, Turkey, etc.) has made Adam a fixture of New York's Balkan music scene. He has played with the Bulgarian group KOLEVI 6, the Macedonian Izvorno ensembles 9 OLIVES and IZGORI and SIDESHOW, a band dedicated to an improvisatory approach to the music of Charles Ives. "SIDESHOW: Songs of Charles Ives" was recently released as their debut CD on Blueshift records. In 2002 Folksounds Records released Adam's "Dances of Macedonia and the Balkans", a CD devoted entirely to the Macedonian Izvorno style. Adam also enjoys teaching private lessons in the New York City area and has taught Macedonian tambura at the Eastern European Folklife Center's Balkan Music and Dance Camp at Ramblewood, Maryland. email homepage
	Gheorghe Trâmbitas, Taragot A native of Fagaras, Romania Gheorghe Trâmbitas started playing the taragot at an early age. His orchestra played throughout Transylvania, where he was know for his amazing speed and virtuosity on the taragot. Gheorghe received his formal musical training at the Conservatory in Brasov, Romania. Before coming to the United States in 1990, he performed throughout Romania and Europe. In addition to taragot, Gheorge is a master of several Romanian folk instruments and in 1997 was featured at the National Folk Festival.