VITA

WHO IS Andrea Pancur?

Andrea was born in a working-class district of Munich in 1969. Her parents are German, but her rather unusual surname derives from her great-grandfather who came from Slovenia in the 19th Century to work in the coal mines of the Bavarian Alps.
Her childhood was uneventful, but from an early age she was conscious of feeling different to other children. She always loved to sing, and at 15 managed to persuade her parents to pay for lessons where she learnt Broadway songs and arias from early Italian opera.

A turning point in her life came when she heard the legendary Polish-Israeli singer Chava Alberstein perform at the First Jewish Cultural Festival in Munich. She was transfixed by Alberstein's voice and music, and spent hours at home playing through her songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. Something in the Jewishness of the music spoke profoundly to her sense of being different.

In her early 20s, Andrea formed a musical partnership with a guitarist and began to perform with him on a modest scale. Around this time, she was introduced to a Russian couple - a flautist and clarinettist -, with whom she teamed up with a bass player and drummer to form the sextet Masseltov.
A dream came true when they were invited to play at the Jewish Festival which had been so formative in Andrea's life, and they were an instant success. Glowing press reports abounded and a Bavarian Television devoted a documentary to Andrea.
Masseltov toured and performed extensively for many years, but in 2008, its members decided it was time to go their separate ways.

Now Andrea has joined up with A Tickle in the Heart, an ensemble made up of Franke Lampe and Bartek Stanczyk, who play accordion, Alexander Maier the clarinettist and Markus Büller on double-bass. She also performs regularly with the modern klezmer quartet.

She is married and lives with a Sardinian street-dog.