Mandu Trummer (associate member)

Mandu, another veteran practitioner of meditation, has been meditating since around 1987, and before that conducted diverse esoteric workshops. In the past, the college-educated historian, together with his wife, bred valuable Arabian horses for many years, many of which received several prizes. Apart from that, Mandu is a professional photographer; yet he works as a “plain” businessman. To shortly describe the range of instruments he plays is almost more difficult than to give a list of things he doesn’t play. His very versatility sometimes makes it complicated to work with him – this jack-of-all-trades usually has to handle three rehearsals simultaneously... Meanwhile, Mandu has produced his own album and frequently performs with other musicians in different configurations, sometimes just alone with his wife. He is a master of the harp, though he was never allowed to play it in the ensemble Arthada & Friends. Some members find the harp too superficial, too much easy listening-like. Although they may well be mistaken in this respect, there is one thing everybody agrees on: Whenever Mandu digs out his erhu (Chinese violin), hearts begin to melt and tissues are handed out. In the first albums at least, Mandu’s Erhu was a staple. He also plays harmonium, guitar, urdhu, synthesizer, to name but a few. Additionally, Mandu is a brilliant head and also makes a fine sound engineer. But above all, he is a very dear and true friend to us.