My name is Ján Jony.
I come from a city near Michalovce.
My hometown is Strážske.
But I am now staying in Michalovce,
where I work with young children.
Basically, I am a music teacher.
I try to educate our young musicians there.
And I've been playing music all my life.
My family was all so musical.
I was introduced to the violin by my father.
I was always listening to him when I was little, I remember that.
From the time I was five years old, I listened to him play the violin
and I liked it.
And one day my father brought me this little violin
and he started teaching me songs on that violin
and it's stayed with me ever since.
Since then I've been basically involved in music
and I've lived with music all my life.
I studied in the Czech Republic at the military conservatory
and later I continued my studies in Košice,
but by then I was already working in the Garrison Music Band Košice,
so I was a military musician.
And then later on I worked in Bratislava.
In the Garrison Music Band in Bratislava,
where I played for various state officials.
One of the main ones was the president.
And basically we were the military music of the President of the Slovak Republic.
I experienced them, starting with Kováč, Schuster and Gašparovič.
I have experienced those three.
While they were presidents, while they were in office.
I remember when Mr. Schuster came up to us and came to greet us.
And he was very happy and he praised us as well.
And it was such a nice meeting.
Also Mr. Gašparovič, he wanted to blow a trumpet.
So I remember that my colleagues lent him a trumpet
and he blew a few notes.
So there was definitely a positive attitude towards music.
There were more of us Roma there, of course.
I got there after I finished school.
First I joined the Garrison Music Band in Košice,
where I played the tuba.
And then, as various changes arose in the organization of the army,
some went into civilian life and some continued.
As I was still young, I was transferred to Bratislava.
To this military band.
And there I met a whole series
of leaders in politics.
The last one, I remember, during my time, it was G. Bush.
One year I played, I think, for Bush, Putin, and the Pope.
John Paul II, when he was in Košice, I played for him at mass.
That was still the Garrison Music Band Košice.
There at that airport.
And then in Bratislava, when he was a little bit older, sicker.
I played the tuba,
because in a military band, it's usually the brass instruments that dominate.
So that's why I studied tuba in school.
But from early childhood, as I mentioned, I played the violin.
And then later, when I came to visit my family in Michalovce,
I left the army and I had to go back to the violin,
because the brass instruments were not very popular here.
They weren't so preferred.
So I dusted off my violin and started playing
with different bands and music.
So I alternated between tuba, violin
and I played bass and double bass at one gig.
Of course, piano is such a standard thing,
which I think every musician should be able to play.
I started out in Cifra Folk Music,
which used to play for the folk ensemble Jurošík.
The director of this ensemble, or the leader, if I may say so,
he had this school where he educated these dancers.
So he noticed me and offered me a position,
to start a music department there.
And to teach the little kids to play,
whom we could then use in that folk group.
So that was successful.
Nowadays, I'm leading the Jurošík Folk Music,
where I'm the first violin.
And my teammates are both professionals, teachers,
but also the pupils that we have brought up ourselves.
It's a non-Roma band.
It's actually folklore, which I like very much.
And I've been coming into contact with that folklore since I was a very young child.
And I've continued to do that all my life.
I try to do that with my boss,
to create, to explore songs, to connect with each other.
Since he's a choreographer, he teaches dance.
So I'm trying to create some music for the dance.
I've already managed to create a few
such programmes, which have been awarded.
It's the kind of work that keeps us moving.
It's pushing us to keep exploring that folklore,
our traditions.
And when it comes to the region, it's mostly where we're at home.
That is Lower Zemplín, except for Michalovce.
In my opinion, there are beautiful songs there.
Such a sharp rhythm.
Wonderful dragging songs.
Terribly cheerful, so diverse.
Always when we compare with other regions,
I think our Zemplín has something to show.
With that folklore ensemble we've been, you could say, all over the world.
What stuck with me the most and what I remember the most,
was in Istanbul, Turkey, the Büyükçekmece festival,
which is the biggest festival in the world.
There were 27 countries from all over the world.
They were professional ensembles.
And we managed to pull off such a stunt there.
We won the whole festival.
It was a huge success.
And such a boost and a push,
that what we're doing, we're probably doing well.
Because it was something amazing.
On the basis of this, various offers came.
I think the furthest away we were was Brazil.
There was also this festival there, huge, world-class,
where we were also appreciated.
We got the jury prize.
So I mentioned the furthest countries.
But within Europe, I think we've been almost all over Europe.
I remember very fondly the festivals in Poland.
Amazing atmosphere, amazing stages, amazing people.
And we love going there, to Poland,
because I think we have something in common, even in the songs.
Also in that feeling of folklore.
So I think Poland is the closest to us.
In Brazil they accepted our folklore very well.
We also had some performances in schools for children during that festival.
Which were happy to dance with us afterwards as well.
So I think they received it very positively.
It was such a challenge for them.
First of all, travelling so far
and the climate that was there.
We had a little bit of trouble adjusting, acclimatizing.
Also the time zone shift led to some minor fluctuations.
But it was amazing.
We were in a town,
which was founded by immigrants.
Immigrants were the foundation of that city.
So it wasn't so indigenous that the locals were all original Brazilians.
But we also met Poles there who spoke to us.
And they were happy to come to our shows afterwards.
And it was so very nice.
About Roma music and musical tradition
Because my cousins and siblings
are Roma and they are very close to the Roma music,
so their children, too, sing those Roma songs at home.
They sing the newer ones, the more modern ones.
But they still go back to the old, traditional songs,
that our parents used to sing.
At various parties or family celebrations.
They basically taught us those songs.
And I think we remembered them well,
because we still sing those songs at home.
Here it turns out that in our descendants
that Romani song is still there and it's a tradition.
Which is very nice and very good.
Because nowadays, my opinion is,
that the old Roma songs are not sung as much as they used to be.
Newer songs are coming and newer songs are being created.
And I think that should change a little bit.
We, as a Roma ethnic group, should have our own songs,
that should not be forgotten.
This Roma music shows the essence of our Roma culture.
And those traditional Roma songs, when I compare it like that,
as we study the Zemplín songs,
we go and try to write down the oldest song.
I think it should be like that in the Roma music as well.
I'm sure there are a lot of old lyrics and songs.
They need to be further disseminated.
And thanks to the fact that we write it down,
then we can pass it on to our descendants.
And it's not so...
Those modern songs, it's great,
that we can create something new.
But we shouldn't forget the old ones.
I'm trying to express my feelings through the violin.
And every song definitely evokes something in me.
And that's what I'm trying to put out.
As I mentioned, my cousins have children.
And I've been rehearsing something with them.
Also, my brother and my cousins are musicians as well.
We've been playing together for a while, too.
And that's how I got into the Cína band,
that Martinka, the leader, had to go on maternity leave,
because she gave birth to baby Peter.
So Štefan approached me,
to see if I could come and fill in for the band,
because I wasn't playing with anybody at the time, so that's how it came together.
So I went on to substitute for Martinka.
Do you notice differences between Slovak and Roma folk music?
There are differences.
In a non-Roma band there are certain rules.
Whether in harmony, whether in the feeling, dynamics.
And in the character, when we play a song, for example.
Whereas in a Roma band
it's more benevolent, or how should I put it.
There are not so many limits there.
It's freer playing
than with non-Roma musicians.
I played with a lot of old Roma musicians,
who were amazing musicians, amazing musicians.
I'll give you an example, even though they didn't know the notes,
they themselves might not have known how complicated the chords were.
They couldn't even name them.
And that's where I see the difference in the musicians that I play with.
I'll mention a colleague of mine, an accordion player, who is also a teacher.
And he can name it.
He basically knows what he's playing.
And that's where I see the difference.
Whereas in the Roma bands, they're mostly just following their own,
as I said, feelings, ears.
How, where, what, how to put that note or chord.
Whereas in a non-Roma band it's like that,
but as they know harmony and theory,
they know how to adjust their playing based on that feeling.
It's different when you know the music and you know the theory,
where certain laws don't let you go somewhere.
And it's different when you're playing in a Roma band
and you don't know the theory, the chord sequence, or the notes.
So it's freer like that.
My favourite Romani first violin was Rinaldo Oláh,
whom I've admired since I was a kid.
I love to listen to his songs and old recordings.
And of course Ján Berky-Mrenica
is such an icon for me, as far as the first violin in Slovakia is concerned.