When the violinist and musicologist Ivan Fritzen Andrade first encountered the folk and popular music traditions of Hungary in 2008, he recognized a turning point—an experience that would forever reshape his artistic path.

Guided by the legacy of Béla Bartók, he completed a Master’s degree in Musicology at UFRGS in 2016. One year later, he founded Baxtale! – Romani Music Research Ensemble, the first and only Latin American group devoted to the Romani folk music of Hungary.

Widely regarded in Brazil as a leading voice on the subject, Ivan has presented lectures, courses, and artistic talks on Hungarian Romani music at institutions such as the Sesc São Paulo Research and Education Center and Casa Mário de Andrade.

In 2023, he created the Hungarian Band of São Paulo, an ensemble dedicated to reimagining Hungarian-language popular songs across generations, styles, and eras.

The group made its debut in September 2023 with a special concert celebrating the Day of Hungarian Song, performing works by iconic artists and bands including Quimby, Republic, Bagossy Brothers Company, Ghymes, 4S Street, as well as celebrated songwriters such as Tamás Cseh & János Másik, László Kollár-Klemencz, Zorán, and Zoltán Beck.

The following month, the ensemble’s duo formation—voice/violin and piano—presented an intimate recital at the auditorium of the Museum of Image and Sound in São Paulo.

In 2026, the project entered a new artistic dimension with the release of pioneering and unprecedented arrangements in which the band reinterprets classics of Hungarian popular music through Brazilian rhythms and instrumentation. Among them are “Apám Hitte” (by Zorán) and “Csönded Vagyok” (by Tamás Cseh), transformed into vibrant cross-cultural dialogues where Hungary and Brazil meet in sound.

Ivan Fritzen Andrade | Between Hungary and Brazil