ShunTa!

With a powerhouse line-up of strings, brass, wind, piano and percussion, the band’s high-energy performances have captivated audiences across the UK, including as support act for Balkan legends from Fanfare Ciocarlia to Kultur Shock.

ShunTA! are nine London-based musicians who found each other in the bars and open-air jams of London’s Balkan and klezmer music scene. They present their personal take on Romani songs as living proof that this folk music touches something universally deep. The band released debut album At The Kafana in 2024, featuring original takes on songs from the ferocious ‘Ibrahim’ to the mournful ‘Mugur Mugurel’ (“bud, little bud”)

ShunTA! means “Hey listen up!”, and the band presents a live energy to match. The mini-orchestra includes a horn section, string section, piano, drums and darbouka. The band have taken the festival circuit by storm, their album launch sold out Jamboree (London) and they recently headlined Balkanarama, the UK’s longest-running Balkan night. They have opened for iconic Romani band Fanfare Ciocarlia, Seattle’s Balkan punks Kultur Shock, Electro-Balkan DJ Shantel, and global collective The Turbans.

Lead vocalist Sarah Montague states:

“This music has an intensely emotional and transformative effect on people, audiences and also musicians like us. Maybe we’re yearning for something long lost from the UK. Maybe it never existed here. We feel it time and time again when we perform, a whole room of people forgetting themselves … this is the feeling that we chase and that drives us.”