The whiz kid of Romanian traditional music, Simion Bogdan-Mihai, began to study the elusive “cobza” – a medieval Eastern European lute – when he was only 15 years old. Since then, he has collaborated with artists from various musical genres and has never seized to experiment with an age-old musical tradition, incorporating Ottoman, Jewish, Russian, Romani and Hungarian soundscapes, that was transmitted orally from generation to generation. In 2017, he formed a traditional fiddler band, Lăutarii de Mătase (The Silken Fiddlers), which soon has become one of the most sought-after and praised group of this kind in Romania. In 2021, they released their first album, entitled “Valahia in Demol” (“Wallachia in D minor”), followed two years later, in 2023, by their second album, entitled “Drum pavat cu bolovani” (“Road paved with boulders”), which went on to become one of the best-selling albums of that year. Bogdan finds inspiration in three musical traditions: Romanian folk music, the fiddle music of the Roma musicians, and the interwar Romanian pop music (waltzes, tangos and cabaret songs). The Silken Fiddlers are Nelu Răducanu (cymbalom), Mandi Pană (violin), Cornel Neacșu (accordion), Robert Adam-Szoltan (double bass), Cristi Adam (viola-bratsch) and Vicenzo Deacu (acoustic piano).