AS PART of their first North American tour, direct from Poland, the Warsaw Village Band are six young musicians who have dedicated themselves to conserving and experimentally enhancing nearly-forgotten folk music and techniques – connecting tradition to a modern aesthetic. 

            Instruments include drums, cello, violins and a unique 16^th century suka fiddle.

            On their second CD, People’s Spring, you can hear string instruments akin to French horns, furious drums, trance, improvisation and elements of roots music.

            Is it the past?  Is it the future?  Whatever it is, let’s dance!

            “The sound of the Warsaw Village Band reminds you of Scandinavian music with it’s dark beauty, powerful and rough, with the arrangements and the emotions radiating from the music,” said FolkWorld magazine in 2000. 

            The band was also the winner of BBC Radio’s World Music Newcomer Award for 2004.

            Band members include Katarzyna Szurman on Polish fiddle, white voices, yellow murmur and jingles; Maja Mayall Kleszcz on bass, scream and grimace; Sylwia Mazura Swiatkowska on violin, fiddle and scream; Vojciech Szpak McKrzak on violin, harp, scream and sounds of wilderness; Piotr Glina Glinski on baraban drums and saucy dances; and Maciej Herszt Szajkowski on frame drums, scream and stake diving.  The Warsaw Village Band plays the Assembly Hall at Lakeshore Boulevard and Kipling Avenue tonight at 7 p.m.

            Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students. And family packs (two adults, two children) are available for $75.

            For more information call 416-201-7093 or visit www.lakeshorearts.ca.