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The Tamburitza Rroma Group is made up of second and third generation Croatian-Americans who are helping to maintain the tamburitza tradition in this country. Tamburitza music is based on a family of plucked, stringed instruments: prim, the smallest of the family; brac, the alto "viola" voice, often carrying the melody line; cello; berde, a fretted bass; and bugarija, a guitar-sized chord rhythm instrument. In South Central Europe, where tamburitza originated, ensembles play indigenous folk music of the eastern region of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially in the Pannonian Plain, the buffer zone that separated Europe from the Ottoman Empire. In the U.S., the tamburitza repertoire has been influenced by Greek, Armenian, and even Mexican melodies, with occasional excursions into country-western and contemporary pop; the core, however is still traditional.

Tamburitza Rroma Group’s music is based on the tradition of the "Gypsy-style" playing from around the multi-ethnic city of Novi Sad, the cultural capital of the Vojvodina, an autonomous region of Serbia populated by Slovaks, Hungarians, Ruthenians, and Roma (Gypsies), as well as Serbs and Croats.

Joe Kirin (brac) and Steve Kirin, Jr. (brac), Croatian-American cousins born in Chicago, are third-generation tamburitza musicians. Their maternal grandfather, Roman Kauzlarich, led the Croatia-based Jadran Orchestra that played at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. Their fathers, Steve Kirin, Sr. and Joe Kirin, Sr., founded the renowned Sloboda Orchestra, and both Joe and Steve Jr. performed at an early age as dancers and musicians in the orchestra’s junior groups. In 1988, the Tamburitza Association of America presented Joe with its first Founders Award, given to a young person who demonstrates an outstanding devotion to the preservation of “tambura music and Slavic culture.” In addition to performing with Tamburitza Rroma, Steve also plays with Sinovi Orchestra, a group that for over 25 years has been heralded for its dedication to Croatian and American music. Steve Ovanin (bass) and Danny Ovanin (kontra, a Bulgarian instrument), born in Los Angeles, learned tamburitza at an early age from their Croatian immigrant father, Ivan, who also is a master tambura builder. Now living in Chicago, Danny plays with several groups and Steve also heads the Boduli Orchestra made up of younger musicians. Joe Modrich (cello), learned tamburitza from his uncle Steve and, along with five sisters, joined the Sloboda Junior Tamburitzans. Together this group of musicians, seasoned by years of experience and training, are carrying on the musical legacy of their forebears.

http://www.tamburaland.com/bands/trroma/parrish.html