'For me, Veronaki's music is about family and symbolises how, when we plant a seed and look after it, it will turn into a forest. A forest that gives nourishment, air and shelter to those who live in it. I love this forest, and I would like it if it there were more and more of us looking after it, so that it will grow bigger and bigger.' So says Veronika Tarján, the singer and writer of fairy tales who founded Veronaki with her husband, composer and percussionist Kornél Mogyoró. They play painstakingly crafted and endearing music aimed at children and families, with exotic instruments, as well as ones from the Carpathian Basin, playing a major role in it.

Veronaki's musical palette is an extraordinarily colourful one. A single song will often include elements of both folk and popular music, along with motifs from Transylvania, the Balkans, the Near East and Africa. They combine the saz, the long-necked lute familiar from the Turkish countryside, together with the Moldavian koboz, as well as the recorder, guitar, tambura, viola, double bass, accordion and lots of percussion instruments. Polyphonic vocals make their sound unique. In addition to the group singing, dancing and instrument presentations, evoking the treasure of Hungarian folklore is another important part of their concerts, as is helping children - in a playful and fairy tale-type format - fall in love with writing and reading. Their first children's programme was the story of the frog king Kuruttyuló, which was followed by the family concert Cifra Palinta and the Világforgó (World-turner). Tarján considers it an important mission of hers to acquaint audiences with the artistic legacy of her grandmother, the poet and writer Katalin Varga. She has set some of these popular children books to music, starting with Haughty Goose Gedeon and, more recently, Masa the Raccoon's Washroom.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest