Krilja Duo

Tradition and innovation meet in passionate Roma songs about suffering and love!

Krilja Duo is a folk/world music group that plays Romani music from Russia and Eastern Europe. The setting consists of vocals, violin and guitar; the emotional tone of the music is intimate, stripped-down and passionate with equal parts fervor and melancholy.

In addition to the usual concert format, Krilja Duo has designed a “narrative concert” with a focus on the history, music and culture of the Roma. It is essentially structured like a regular concert but with monologues between the songs that briefly and easily explain the subject. The narrative part follows the history of the Roma, starting from the emigration from India about 1000 years ago, describes how they spread across Europe and the oppression and persecution they have suffered, and also addresses Romani music and the extensive contribution of the Roma to the musical history of Europe.

The total length of the narrative concert is 70 minutes, of which a total of 10 minutes are dedicated to storytelling and an additional 10 minutes are reserved for questions and discussion. You are free to choose either a narrative concert, or a “regular” concert without storytelling.

Krilja Duo is a mini version and offshoot of the trio constellation Krilja, which was founded in 2010 and has since performed at everything from intimate café scenes to museums, cultural centers and folk music festivals throughout the country. A couple of foreign tours in Scotland and Iceland have also been included. Krilja in trio version is currently with its latest album “Sosnitsa: Roma Music from Russia & Eastern Europe”, which has received enthusiastic reviews in both the Swedish and international music press. The album has been on the prestigious Transglobal World Music Chart and has received extensive media coverage, including being played on the Austrian national radio channel Österreich 1 and in Kalejdoskop on Swedish radio P2.

Krilja Duo consists of Marita Johansson (vocals, guitar) and Jonas Liljeström (violin, vocals). Marita is the group's initiator; she is a passionate supporter of Romani culture who has collected almost forgotten Romani folk songs and added them to her repertoire since the 90s – she has also studied Romani and Russian. Jonas is not only a violinist but also a music ethnologist trained at the University of Gothenburg.

Krilja Duo's recently recorded demo is available in its entirety on Soundcloud, see link below.

Excerpt from review:

"Sung for the most part by Johansson using the Romanes language, these are songs of courtship, love and marriage, whether that's the eloping lovers of "Malyarkitsa" or the lost love of "Beryuzovie Kalyechke". It's all performed by musicians who clearly have a deep love and respect for the music and who manage to convey the passion, joy and heartache of the material, with Johansson's vocals covering a range of emotions from world weariness to upbeat.” / Chris Haslam, Rock'n'Reel Magazine, February 2024.

The duo members:
Marita Johansson: vocals, guitar
Jonas Liljeström: violin, vocals

(The band photo was taken by Stig-Magnus Thorsén.)