Colleen Bertsch - Violin
Dr. Colleen Bertsch is a violinist and music arranger who specializes in east-central European folk music. She has received multiple Minnesota State Arts Board's Artists Initiative grants, all of which have supported projects relating to folk music found in Romania. Colleen obtained her Ph.D. degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Minnesota. To conduct her dissertation research, she lived in Transylvania for a year, working side-by-side with string musicians - most prominently Ovidiu Barteș (Cluj), Florin Codoba (Pălatca), and Carol Țuli (Mociu). That research was supported by a Fulbright U.S. Student Research Award to Romania and a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the University of Minnesota.
In addition to Szászka, Colleen is the fiddle player for Balkan party band Orkestar Bez Ime (OBI) and accordion-violin duet Soul Trouvère. As a member of OBI, Colleen received a McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians.
Anastasia Verdoljak - Violin
Trained as a violinist and dancer with fond memories of a Duluth upbringing, Anastasia Verdoljak moved to St. Paul and was introduced to playing folk music on her fiddle in a klezmer group at Macalester College. She spent a decade performing with Ethnic Dance Theatre where she met Szászka members and joined the band in 2020. She has studied with Transylvanian and Hungarian artists at Ti Ti Tábor Hungarian folk camp near Seattle as well as in Hungary & Romania.
Anastasia has her MA & instrumental music teaching license from Augsburg College, serving in string education in Twin Cities public & private institutions since 2009. Her bandmates enjoy being active in the community by providing folk music workshops in her classrooms!
Sara Bruins - String Bass
Sara Bruins plays string bass and violin and was one of the founding members of Szászka in 1996. Her desire to learn the many different styles of the traditional music of the Hungarian villages in Transylvania has led her to study with many of the most famous village musicians of this region. Sara holds a Masters degree in Library and Information Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison and resides in the Minneapolis area. (Photo by Paula A. White)
Doug Code - Viola / Koboz
Violist Doug Code is also one of the original members of Szászka. After many years of performing with the Madison based Balkan music lounge band, The Reptile Palace Orchestra, Doug decided to focus his interest in Hungarian music. In 1994 he began studying the Kontra (3-string viola), an instrument unique to Transylvania. Doug is a consulting electrical engineer now residing in the Minneapolis area. (Photo by Paula A. White)
Eric Ray - Accordion / Viola
Eric is accomplished in many folk genres of accordion performance, and has studied with many renowned artists.
Eric performed for 4 years as a dancer and lead accordionist of the Duquesne University Taburitzans, the country's longest-running company dedicated to the performance of eastern European music, song, and dance. Eric's other performance highlights include appearances with the 2006-2007 All-State Orchestra, Flying Foot Forum, Ethnic Dance Theatre Folk Orchestra, the Mila Vocal Ensemble, and the Minneapolis based Ukrainian Village Band. (Photo by Paula A. White)