Vatra Živa Tamburitza Orchestra

For over 30 years, the Vatra Živa Tamburitza Orchestra has been preserving and sharing the music of Eastern Europe in the traditional string band tradition of Serbia and Croatia. Vatra Živa’s mission is to keep alive the older, traditional folk tunes (this type of music is called stari grad, or old city music), while expanding their musical repertoire. Vatra Živa hopes that these performances will help others experience the joy and excitement of this music. This Columbus-based group is the best of it’s kind in the region!

The Music
Vatra Živa’s main focus is on the traditional folk songs and music of the former republics of Yugoslavia, including Serbia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, & Macedonia, many of which were played in the villages prior to WWII. In recent years, they have expanded their repertoire to include traditional folk songs and music of Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Turkey, including some traditional Jewish and Israeli pieces. Lead musician Larry Kozobarich composes tunes following these folk traditions, but only the sharpest ears will be able to tell new from old!

This type of music has been an inspiration for classical composers as well as folk musicians for centuries. It is where East meets West in a continuum that flows across the former republics of Yugoslavia. Under Turkish occupation the people took what they liked of Middle Eastern music, combined it with more Western musical styles, and made it their own. Vatra Živa remains committed to preserving these musical traditions.


The Instruments
Vatra Živa plays the traditional instruments of Serbia and Croatia, a family of instruments known as tambura or tamburitza (-itza denotes a small tambura). It is a stringed instrument related to the Russian balalaika, the Ukrainian bandura and the Italian mandolin. Its name originated from the Turkish language and made its first appearance in the Balkan region in the 14th Century.

The Instruments
Vatra Živa plays the traditional instruments of Serbia and Croatia, a family of instruments known as tambura or tamburitza (-itza denotes a small tambura). It is a stringed instrument related to the Russian balalaika, the Ukrainian bandura and the Italian mandolin. Its name originated from the Turkish language and made its first appearance in the Balkan region in the 14th Century.
While other instruments, including accordion, keyboard, drums, clarinets, trumpets, violin, gajde (bagpipes), and frula (wooden penny whistle) are popular alternatives in tamburitza orchestras, Vatra Živa devotes itself to maintaining a purely string sound.

The Musicians
The group includes Larry Kozobarich, on prim and vocals, who is one of the original founders. Larry’s father and grandfather both played in tamburitza groups. Larry carries on the tradition having learned many of the older songs in the band’s repertoire from them. He also makes his own instruments and is passing that skill on to his daughter, our newest member, Christine Kozobarich, who plays bass. The addition of Christine makes the fourth generation of tamburitza musicians in her family! Her mother was the original bass player for the group and Christine grew up hearing the music as part of everyday life (if you ask her, she will tell you her favorite song is Čep Čep!). Laura Lunder-Haycook, on second prim and vocals, has been with the band for 20 years. She started playing tambura as a youth in the Cleveland Junior Tamburitzans. She has also played with other groups such as Živili and Selo. Dona Hyll, on bugarija and vocals, has been with the band for 10 years. She studied bugarija with such notables as Danilo Yanich of Sviraj and Charlie Smilinich of the Balkan Serenaders. She is also an accomplished dumbec (middle eastern drum) player and performs with several belly dancers in the central Ohio area. She also has played with other groups including Živili, Živio, Hajde and Firelight. Stan Gehres, on čello, bass, and vocals, and his wife, Tina Gehres, on brač and vocals, have been with the band for 5 years. They have also played with other groups including Živili, Selo, Mixed Bag, and the Tom Katrenich Orchestra.


Vatra Živa has performed at such notable venues as the Tamburitza Association of America’s Tamburitza Extravaganza, Goloka Gallery’s Fluctuation Spring Giddy Up Gallery Hop, the 45th Buckeye Dance Convention, the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center Performing Arts Series, Troy’s Festival of Nations—Featured Band, Folkways Celebrations, the Columbus Folk Festival, and COSI – Holiday Program. The band has played for such groups as the Živio Dancers, in performances in this region, including the Dayton International Festival’s A World A’Fair and the Middletown Middfest. The band has donated their talents to fund-raising projects such as the Doctors without Borders Fund-Raiser to raise money for orphans in the former republics of Yugoslavia. Vatra Živa is also featured in a book about tamburitza orchestras titled Tamburitza America, by Milan Opacich.

Vatra Živa has been profiled by the Columbus Dispatch Weekender and the Ohio State Lantern.
The American Srbobran Newspaper called Vatra Živa “an electric force.”

Letters of commendations include:
Folkways - “a wonderful addition to their celebration”
COSI - “received many laudatory comments from visitors of the holiday program”