Musica Lautareasca Nova involves instrumental compositions inspired by the traditional music of the Polish lowlands, the eastern and southern regions of the Carpathian mountains, the Balkans, and the Black Sea coast. The sources of our music are musical notations (Kurpie), archival recordings (Greece, Macedonia, the music of Ashkenazi Jews), our own musical compositions and, most important, close and direct contact with village musicians still practicing traditional performance techniques (Poland, Romania, and Ukraine).

The basis of the album is our belief that the most interesting aspects of folk music originate in "borderland" areas where many cultures interpenetrate each other (e.g. Bukovina, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Dobruja). In such environments musical motifs cross geographical borders and, arriving from distant places, join together to become statements of understanding without losing their original identities.

The musical structure of Musica Lautareasca Nova is dual. On the one hand we emphasize unitedness, homogeneity, and harmony of sound, on the other hand we leave space for individual expression and improvisation. A unique timbre - in which tradition encounters modernity - is deliberately created by the juxtaposition of violin and folk wind instruments (birbina - traditional Lithuanian clarinet; telenka - shepherd flute) with a jazz-like piano.

Musica Lautareasca Nova originated in 2000 in Wrocław, and originally included the musicians Rafał Habel (birbina) and Marcin Ciupidro (piano), who also performed in the group's first recording, Muzica Lautaresca Nova. CD Muzica Lautareasca Nova