The School of Music and Dance’s World Music Series continues with Zoë Aqua, violin, and Transylvanian folk musicians Gergely Réman, cimbalom; Kálmán Szopos, brácsa (rhythm viola); and Károly Dénes, double bass, giving a performance on Thursday, February 24, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. in Aasen-Hull Hall (190 Music).

In Transylvanian folk music the violin leads the melodies, while the brácsa provides rhythmic and harmonic support. The cimbalom serves as the backbone of these folk ensembles. Its resonant, percussive sound creates a distinctive harmonic foundation for many folk melodies.

The cimbalom is a stringed instrument constructed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in Budapest, based on his modifications to the existing hammered dulcimer instruments which were already present in Central and Eastern Europe.

 Zoë Aqua was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She played Suzuki violin while her dad led songs at their local synagogue and played klezmer music on the weekends. After college, Aqua lived in Brooklyn for a decade amidst a generous and progressive Jewish community that stoked her love of old klezmer recordings and her fascination with Eastern European music. Aqua lived in Romania 2021–23 doing ethnographic research on a Fulbright grant to study Transylvanian folk music. With her bandmates she recorded A Sea of Stars, a collection of live recordings from her 2024 Transylvanian Synagogue Tour.

The World Music Series is cosponsored by the OHC’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities.