Sanda Weigl is a Romanian-born singer internationally celebrated for her potent, contemporary interpretation of Romanian gypsy music.
Sanda Weigl’s personal history includes childhood stardom on Romanian television, political persecution, rock stardom in East Berlin, imprisonment and expulsion after being labeled an enemy of the state. In West Berlin she began her second career with the Schiller Theater, collaborating with some of the world’s most noted directors and performers Including Robert Wilson, Luc Bondy, and Juergen Flimm. Her work in the theater led her back to music; Sanda performed several critically lauded Romani concerts in Hamburg with the band from the Robert Wilson/Tom Waits production The Black Rider. With Wilson’s encouragement, Sanda immigrated to New York with her family in 1992, and quickly gained a reputation among the avant-garde cognoscenti, as well as a collection of dazzling reviews for her performances at the JVC Jazz Festival, Joe’s Pub, The Knitting Factory and The Neue Gallerie, to name just a few. She was dubbed “The Gypsy Queen of Downtown New York.” Her re-dedication to Gypsy Music has since led to performances across Europe. She was described as “stunning” at the Pina Bausch Festival in 2001.
What the press are saying:
“…she’s kept New Yorkers enthralled with a steady stream of the Romanian Gypsy songs that she learned on the streets of Bucharest in her youth.” The New Yorker, May 2008
“To call Sanda’s voice ‘powerful’ would be an understatement…Her interpretations are dramatic, even theatrical, but never ‘over the top’..If you’re a fan of vocal ethnic music of any sort, that’s something you don’t want to miss.” Bill Tilland, BBC
“Sounding at times like a Tom Waits-bred cross between Cape Verdean chanteuse Cesaria Evora and German vocal visionary Dagmar Krause…simultaneously celebrates and shatters New and Old World musical conventions with captivating results.” George Varga, The Union Tribune
“...Sanda's voice has that steamy, lush tone ever so mesmerizing... There's something very real in these traditional and often ancient songs which reach deep into our collective pasts and speak of times long-gone but with lyrical themes that deal with eternal issues." Downtown Music Gallery
“Sanda appeared on stage dancing with lithe feet and a great sense of rhythm, stunning everyone with an all around motile and expressive voice” Pina Bausch Festival, Wuppertaler Zeitung
“Sanda's project is a journey to the origins of musique tsigane, a unique mixture of gypsy music and traditional Romanian folk music. The arrangements made by her and her band have placed the music in an entirely new context; infused with jazz sensibilities and blurring the distinctions between ethno-jazz-and art song.” German Press
"Weigl’s voice reminds one of Marlene Dietrich-sometimes cabaret, then singer and actress-you can’t nail her down. She’s full of melancholy, smoky and dark. It is never cliché-and always very personal.” Michael Stenger, Soester Anzeiger
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Sanda Weigl's work is powerfully documented on her 2002 recording, Gypsy Killer (Knitting Factory Records), recorded with a large ensemble guided by Anthony Coleman.
More information on Sanda Weigl.