Learn to play the Fujara! A Slovak overtone flute and a Slovak cultural symbol.

The fujara is a cultural symbol of Slovakia and of Slovak folk music; and is recognized by UNESCO.

Until recently there was no easy way to learn to play fujara in the USA. Now during the annual Common Ground on the Hill program of McDaniel College in Westminister, Maryland, an one-week course is offered to learn the fujara and the koncovka. Bohuslav (Bob) Rychlik is the instructor -- Fujara@gmail.com 

 

Learn to Play the Fujara & Koncovka, Connect with your Slovak Roots, & Have the Best Vacation of Your Life!

Bob Rychlik

Are you one of the many people of Slovak heritage who feel that they are losing touch with their roots amid the hustle and bustle of daily life? Once I also felt I was drifting farther and farther away from the culture and the soul of the (then) Czechoslovakia I left so many years ago, when an unexpected gift from a Slovak friend changed that and more – it changed my life! The gift was my first Slovak fujara, and I immediately fell in love with its rich sound and the feelings it evoked of my distant homeland.

Fast forward to the present time: I now have a hundred of performances on the fujara and other Slovak overtone flutes under my belt, at many festivals, and in workshops in many states and in several countries, and I am offering you the opportunity to find that deep inner voice of Slovak culture yourselves by learning to play the fujara and another wonderful flute, the koncovka, yourself. 

I teach a one-week course on the beautiful campus of McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, during Traditions Week 1 of the annual Common Ground on the Hill program.  This year, my class will be held from June 29 – July 3, 2015. Everyone is welcome.  No music experience is necessary to take this class.  In all my years of teaching it, by the end of the week, every student was playing two traditional Slovak songs, and Amazing Grace on the fujara, and everybody was playing the koncovka, even jamming the blues on it.

If you do not have a fujara, no problem.  There will be loaner instruments for you; and everybody can get a koncovka at the class. This class is not available anywhere else in the country.  Some students come from far away, some take more classes featuring other instruments, and some come here with their spouses for an activity-filled week.  There are concerts every day, and people are jamming together at many places …. It was the best vacation of my life, and it could be yours, too.

The class is part of a summer program organized by Common Ground on the Hill. If you would like to find out more, please email the office at commonground@commongroundonthehill.org, express interest in the fujara class, and ask for the Traditions Week program booklet to be mailed to you.

You can also see all the courses on line at www.commongroundonthehill.org  (For fujara: Click Programs/Traditions Week 1 /Overtone flutes – fujara and koncovka)

For an introduction to the fujara and koncovka, you can watch my presentation at the Library of Congress here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y5fonktBzQ  (or Google: “Rychlik – fujara – Congress”)

 PHOTO: The 2014 fujara class with instructor Bob Rychlik, 3rd from right.