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Our Story

"Everyone's heart is filled with songs as they listen to their own soul in every song, and those who's heart sings beautifully will find the songs of other's beautiful."

Mihály Babits

The Beginning

Recognising an urgent need to celebrate Roma culture on its own terms and to support Roma cultural practitioners and artists in Scotland and beyond, Roma musician János Lang founded, in 2017, a charity he called Ando Glaso, meaning In-Tune in Romanes.

 

János deeply understood that Roma people's cultural traditions and artforms had
opened doors for inclusion within mainstream society particularly through music. This historical legacy underpins Ando Glaso's mission to support the inclusion and empowerment of Roma people through culture. 

 

 
The Early Years

For the first three years of our existence, noting the considerable number of very talented Roma musicians in Scotland, we focused heavily on establishing a professional orchestra for Scotland's Roma musicians. The Ando Glaso Collective, as it came to be known, brought, and continues to bring, together Roma talents from Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, and Hungarian backgrounds. The group revisits and reworks traditional materials while pushing the boundaries of innovation. In more recent years, the Collective has been sharing Roma music and culture across Scotland from the Highlands to the Borders at arts centres and festivals.​

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2019 Onwards
​In the years that followed, starting in 2019, we established an arts-focused youth work
project when it became clear that there were many talented young Roma in Scotland who
were looking for support to bring their musical ideas to life. This project produced Zor: an
exciting band of accomplished young performers who are creating and releasing their
own contemporary gypsy music to great acclaim.
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 Since emerging from the pandemic, while retaining the Collective and the youth work
strand, we began working in the field of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH): a UNESCO concept that is quickly becoming a focus in the arts and heritage sectors after the UK Government’s signing of the ‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage’ in 2024.
 
This work has seen us partnering with national heritage bodies such as Museums Galleries Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, and others in academia. Broadly, this work has tended to focus on the documentation, interpretation, and presentation of Roma cultural practices and traditions (including music) in Scotland. We have received generous funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out large-scale research in the field of ICH and further develop our work in this area.

In 2024, alongside our artist development and ICH work, we deepened our engagement with young people, establishing a creative hub and studio in Glasgow. The hub, which was funded by the Gannochy Trusts, Young Start, and Inspiring Scotland, supports young people in various ways to realise their creative and cultural visions as well as supporting them to gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the fields of arts and heritage. This is important safeguarding and arts development work, empower young Roma to achieve their creative goals and build on their cultural legacy in Scotland.
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Registered Charity: SC050416

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