Szilvia was born in Budapest, raised in Germany, and comes from a Hungarian family of professional musicians. She started training as a classical pianist at the age of six. She graduated from the University of Hildesheim in Cultural Education Studies. She discovered her love for the accordion when she began searching for her own musical roots through intensive study of Eastern European folklore and klezmer music. Szilvia lives in Hannover and works as an accordionist, pianist and arranger with numerous ensembles and projects all over Europe. She is one of only a handful of accordionists in Germany specializing in traditional Yiddish music.

She is co-founder and musical director of the Klezmerorchester Erfurt - an 80-piece klezmer orchestra of amateur and professional musicians from all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Their motto "KlezWeCan" brilliantly reflects this project that brings together musicians of all generations and musical backgrounds.

Since 2018 Szilvia has been working with the London-based clarinetist, Susi Evans. In 2020 they released their first record - Klezmer From The New World; a collection of tunes from the repertoire of Dave Tarras. In the same year they published The Klezmer Playbook; 50 traditional klezmer tunes with playalongs, which has already been sold in 17 countries worldwide. During the latest lockdown, Susi and Szilvia launched the KlezmerPlaybook CLUB, where they have up to 100 participants attending their online workshops and playalong sessions.

Szilvia teaches accordion and klezmer workshops at various festivals including Klezfest London and KlezKanada. She has been loyally connected with Yiddish Summer Weimar since 2008, as a student, a volunteer and now as a teacher and performer.

www.szilviacsaranko.de
www.shades-of-folk.com

Photo: Shendl Copitman