Veronika Varga

Veronika Varga is a Budapest-based Hungarian folk singer and double bass player, primarily representing both traditional and urban music from the Balkans and the Greek Mediterranean, in Hungary and abroad, as a member of various bands and as a soloist, over the past decade. Her artistic journey began with Hungarian folk music, but over time she found her true voice in the diverse and emotionally rich musical universe of the Balkans and the Mediterranean. However, throughout her artistic career, she repeatedly returns to Hungarian folk music, which originally opened the way for her toward the music of other cultures. In her band Babra, she plays tamburitza double bass and sings traditional songs of the South Slavic minorities who have lived in Hungary for centuries. With her BudaPesme duo, she revives mainly old Macedonian and Bosnian coffee house and traditional songs. Her quartet, VreMea Válkània, offers a powerful blend of Balkan songs, Greek rebetiko and laiko music, distinguished by dual female vocals and the interplay of cimbalom and accordion. She recently founded her a cappella project, called Lemonokipos, where she arranges nature-inspired Greek traditional songs for four female voices with an emphasis on vocal purity and authenticity. Another of her bands, the re-established Epseria, is devoted exclusively to Greek rebetiko, authentically performing songs from all periods of the genre with guitar, bouzouki, accordion and vocals.