Mónika Lakatos and the Gipsy Voices (Madžarska)

When Mónika Lakatos was crowned the winner of the Hungarian TV talent show Ki Mit Tud? in 1996, she wasn’t blasting out pop covers to pre-recorded backing tracks. Instead, she sang the traditional music of her own community, the Olah Romani people. Over the following decades, the strength and passion of her voice made her a stand-out performer, giving her the status as the most acclaimed and distinguished Romani singer since Esma Redzepova (among others, she is the first Romani winner of the Womex Artist Award, the world's most prestigious prize for global music).

As the lead singer of Romengo, she performed on stages all over the world, then, together with her husband Mihály "Mazsi" Rostás, she dazzled audiences with the intimate, often tragic repertoire of the duo Romanimo, while her latest project, Gypsy Voices, showcases a brighter, more energetic side of the musical tradition of the Olah Romani. In Hungary, the Olah Romani are a minority within a minority, with only around 30,000 people still practising their language and the traditional way of life. Mónika has her roots in Nagyecsed, a village at the heart of the Olah community in north-eastern Hungary famous for its music. With music and songs all around her, she has been singing for as long as she can remember. 

Within a very traditional setting, she pushes boundaries, celebrating with her Gipsy Voices project the voices and experiences of women in a society often focused on the masculine, and providing space for Romani youths to make themselves heard, too.

Mónika and the Gypsy Voices will mark World Roma Day at CD’s Linhart Hall.