We are introducing you, our readers, to one of our Board Members. Bruno Bruzzese joined the HVBA in 2020 and quickly became one of our most active members. Lucky us!! As a founding member of the Blue Mask Boys, Bruno has lent his talent, joy of music, humor, and knowledge to many HVBA community performances with that group. This Spring, Bruno will be leading the fiddle portion at Vassar College’s LLI program entitled, “A Bluegrass Adventure.” Andy Bing is the coordinator of the six classes.
Bruno comes from a family of mountain people, the mountains of Southern Italy. He was a part of the family circle when tables and chairs were pushed to the walls and everybody danced to the organetto and tambourine. The energy he plays with comes from that family tradition of celebrating good times and good people with music.
Taking up bluegrass fiddle and banjo in high school, Bruno began to play with local and regional bands at festivals and contests. Over the years he played and recorded in many circles; Bluegrass, Old Time, Country (he played in one Arizona Honky Tonk 4 nights a week for 3 years), Old Time Jazz and Swing, Cowboy Jazz, Texas Swing (he spent 6 years playing at Trad Jazz festivals with a band called Igor’s Jazz Cowboys), Trance Dance Jam Bands, New Wave Songwriter Bands, Arabic, Turkish and Armenian folk music and classical Egyptian music. But now he has returned to playing Bluegrass fiddle and is enjoying it, and being enjoyed by others, more than ever before.