Romain Gourko and Jean-Christophe Gairard first met in 2013 during a tour in the Balkans, from Grenoble to Istanbul. They collaborated to form the duo Mierlitsa, where, taking turns as soloists, the two instrumentalists and singers draw from their repertoire built over years of practice and journeys through the labyrinth of Slavic and Balkan music.

• Romain Gourko: balalaika, guitar, vocals
• Jean-Christophe Gairard: violin, guitar, vocals

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About the musicians

Romain Gourko. Coming from a family of musicians, Romain immersed himself in the atmosphere of Slavic cabarets and festivals from a very young age. He developed a passion for music and began playing the balalaika at the age of eleven. Later, drawn to other musical styles such as gypsy jazz and Brazilian music, he shifted to the guitar and started singing during his adolescence.

Driven by a desire to enrich his musical language and compose, he studied jazz and composition from 2016 at the IMFP and later at the Conservatoire de Marseille. In 2022, he obtained a DEM (Diplôme d'Études Musicales) in composition for the image.

In 2012, he was a founding member of Tchayok, a vocal-instrumental trio. Since 2014, he has been participating annually in the Tournée des Refuges, a festival of itinerant mountain music. He is also a member of the Balalaïkas de Saint Georges orchestra, with which he recorded the soundtrack for the film The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2013.