Library of Congress Presents Serbian-American Music

AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
HOMEGROWN CONCERT SERIES

THE BAJICH BROTHERS—Tamburitza Music from Kansas

September 17, 2008 at 12:00 noon, FREE
Coolidge Auditorium, Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

The Bajich Brothers, Boris, Paul, Peter and Robert, are a Serbian-American tambura quartet from Kansas. They are active in the St. George Orthodox Church, located in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, and have played their music at all the major Serbian and Croatian festivals in the United States, including the Tamburaland festival in Pittsburgh. They were raised in the Serbian community of Kansas City, which dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, when Serbian immigrants began seeking work in the five major meatpacking plants located in the area of the city known as the West Bottoms. One of the traditions these Serbians brought with them was that of playing tamburas. Tamburas are a family of fretted, steel-stringed acoustic instruments common to several countries in southeastern Europe, including Serbia. They have four to six steel strings, and are usually played with a plectrum. In this, they resemble familiar families of instruments such as western mandolas and Greek bouzoukis. The styles of music played by the tambura include, among others, traditional folk tunes and modern tunes written in the folk idiom. Tambura music (also known as tamburitza or tamburica, after common diminutives for tambura), has been played in ethnic communities in the United States since the 1890s. Since then, it has spread wherever there are Americans of Serbian or Croatian heritage, becoming one of the most popular and widespread ethnic music traditions in the United States. For more information please visit the American Folklife Center at www.loc.gov/folklife or call 202-707-5510.