Erika Józsa Demian

She studied music at the prestigious Popular Art School in her hometown, graduating at the classical guitar section.  She debuted as a singer songwriter still in her teens, formed her first band at 17. In 1970 started collaboration with Karoly Horvath, a creative partnership which lasted for almost five decades.  They created an original brand of folk music based on Erika’s poetry, using unusual instruments, which became their trademark and made them very popular among the music loving public. Erika plays several instruments from classical guitar to rare folk instruments such as Gardon, Tzitera and Hurdy Gurdy (tekerő). Alongside her career in music, Erika also had a career in television. She graduated as a journalist at the S. Gheorghiu Academy in Bucharest. She was the presenter of the Hungarian programon Romanian Television for 14 years, becoming one of the most popular and much loved TV personalities of the time.
Over the years, she made memorable documentaries as well as some great musical shows - until the Hungarian television program was abruptly stopped by the regime in 1985.
In 1986 she settled with her family in Australia where shecontinued her activity as a journalist and author, as well as a musician. She has also re-enrolled to university; graduated in Information Science at the University of South Australia in 2005, practicing her new profession for more than a decade at Sydney University. An important part of the last three decades was the making of a series of documentary films with husband, Josef Demian in Australia, New Zealand and South America, commissioned by television stations in Europe. Alongside all her other roles in the film making process, Erika also composed original music for most of the documentaries. Member of Romanian Filmmakers Union.
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