Denver-based Romanian/Klezmer fiddle virtuoso Zoë Aqua releases new album on Adhyaropa Records From The Open Place

Adhyâropa Records is thrilled to announce From the Open Place (ÂR00219), the new album by Denver-based  Romanian/Klezmer fiddler Zoë Aqua featuring an extraordinary ensemble of virtuosos from the Transylvanian region and vocalist Ira Khonen Temple. 

From the Open Place is the most recent product of a deep and fruitful collaboration between American klezmer fiddler Zoë Aqua and three stellar folk musicians from the Transylvania region of Romania: Gergely Réman (cimbalom), Kálmán Szopos (brácsa), and Károly Dénes (bass). Listeners will recognize the “unrelenting cimbalom, grinding basslines and deep trance drones from the Romanian brácsa (chordal viola)” from their previous releases including In A Sea of Stars, which garnered a 5/5-star review from Songlines Magazine. The band is known for their vital and pulsing sound which appeals to fans of fiddle music of all kinds, including bluegrass and old-time music. 

Aqua’s compositional style combines elements of klezmer and Yiddish song with Hungarian, Romanian, and Romani folk music, and is truly unique in the world music scene. From The Open Place premieres a new collaboration for the band with Yiddish singer Ira Khonen Temple. 

Ira offers thoughtful interpretations of Zoë’s new settings of poems by writer Moyshe Kulbak, which transport the listener into the world of pre-WWII Eastern European Jewish life. Kulbak’s poems are surprising and wide-ranging; they include a murder ballad about a bear-trainer, a serenade to the primeval forest and a surreal account of a peasant who transforms into an owl. 

The songs are dark and revelatory in equal measure. The title From the Open Place refers to the vast open spaces of the American West which the band experienced on their first US tour, when they visited 7 Western states, as well as to their commitment to collaborative music-making which transcends borders, nationalities and genres, and to the place of openness from which they hope listeners approach their music. 

Fans should keep an eye out for their next tour in January 2027, which will include stops on the US East Coast and in Chicago, where they have been selected to perform a featured showcase at Folk Alliance International Conference.

Artist: Zoë Aqua

Album Title: From The Open Place

Label: Adhyâropa Records

Release Date: October 5, 2026 (single: ‘Zsidó Csárdás és Friss’); October 19, 2026 (single: ‘In a Yodlovn Vald (In a Piney Wood)’); November 6, 2026 (album: From The Open Place)

Purchase: PURCHASE LINK 

Performers: Zoë Aqua (violin); Kálmán Szopos (brácsa); Károly Dénes (bass); Gergely Réman (cimbalom); Ira Temple (vocals); Annie Aqua (violin)