At the KotorArt festival, for the first time on Friday, August 11, on the Summer Stage at 22 p.m., the sounds of sevdalinka, a city song that is popular throughout the Balkans, will be heard. One of the most famous singers from Sevda, Amira Medunjanin, will hold a concert at the XNUMXth Don Branko Days of Music accompanied by great instrumentalists - pianist Bojan Zulfikarpašić, guitarist Anto Gelo and double bass player Zvonimir Šestak. Born in Sarajevo, Amira grew up in her hometown with rock music - with the music of "Azra", "Ekatarina Velika", "Sex Pistols", Nik Kejva, on the one hand, and with traditional Bosnian music - sevdalinka that her mother sang, with the other side. After working for many years in the office of the European Commission in Sarajevo, she decided to leave that job, "turn over a new leaf" and devote herself to music and the promotion of sevdalinka.
This is your first time in Kotor, but not in Montenegro. You performed in Podgorica and Herceg Novi, and for each concert you asked for more tickets. How would you describe the Montenegrin audience, does it love and understand Sevdalinka?
Montenegrin audiences are very familiar with sevdalinka and old folk songs from this area. I can honestly tell you that, at concerts in Montenegro, I can only go on stage, sit down and listen to the audience sing. And believe me, there are wonderful voices. The audience knows all the songs and sometimes it's hard for me to surprise them. And again, I'm extremely glad that we can all enjoy music together, without any restraint. My colleague Ante Gelo and I sometimes joke with the audience at a concert, so we try to surprise them with musical diversions, but without success. In fact, I don't see the performance itself as a concert, it looks more like a gathering of music friends. At least that's how I experience live performances.
Your collaborators, both on albums and in concerts, are often musicians from the former Yugoslavia, such as Bojan Zulfikarpašić, Vlatko Stefanovski, Boško Jović, Zvonimir Šestak, Uroš Rakovec. Do the artists from these areas better feel, interpret, understand the music you perform, is sevdalinka "in their blood" or can the passion for this type of music be triggered in every artist? How do you choose the musicians you work with?
It may be true that most of the musicians who live and create in these areas have an adequate talent for this type of music, but this does not have to be the rule. I have performed a lot with different artists from Europe and the world, and I am always surprised how people perceive our music. Sometimes their view of our tradition is also very important. We may be a little subjective sometimes, and need a little refresher. But regardless of where the artists are from, the music is the only thing that matters. I'm lucky with the artists I work with. Somehow the dice always fall into place and I find like-minded musicians. Most of us all grew up when that music was popular. We are united by our love for old songs, and it is truly a great honor for me to be able to collaborate with such artists.
For the performance in Taipei, the organizers asked you to translate the lyrics of the songs, to give a short description of each song, which was translated into Chinese and printed in a small book, so that the audience was familiar with the subject of each song. Does the audience, because of the language, understand the songs better in the Balkans, or does Sevdalinka "speak" in a universal language?
For our people, it is "our thing" and it is always there, with us, in our hearts. There is no man in this area who does not understand the lyrics of old folk songs. We really have a great musical wealth and we must try to preserve it for new generations. And precisely for the reason I mentioned earlier, I think it is not difficult to present such a musical beauty. And there is no man in the world who cannot feel it. It's the same for you as when we listen to Portuguese fado. Even though we don't understand much, our souls are breaking.
2016 was an extremely successful year for you. You released a new album "Damar", you performed for the first time in America, Taiwan. What else will you remember her for?
I remember my years by the people I meet on trips, at concerts and socializing with the audience after the performance. Last year was extremely successful for me, because on the North American continent I finally met friends with whom I have been hanging out through social networks for several years. In addition, I performed a lot in the region, I was in cities and places that I had not visited before. And that was a special experience.
On the last album "Damar" you are not just a performer. You produced the album with Bojan Zulfikarpašić, and with Anto Gela arranged the song "We will sing what our heart knows", composed by Damir Imamović.
As far as production is concerned, these are little baby steps, to tell you the truth. I have yet to seriously devote myself to production and I have to thank Bojan, who helped me a lot to understand the basics of this part of the job. A very demanding and responsible calling. But we'll see how things go. I have a lot of ideas that could be the basis for future projects, and I hope to continue in the same direction.
How do you reconcile your love for tradition, for sevdalinka on the one hand, and love for sci-fi films and Tolkien, on the other?
Good question. I may be a little older, but I've never stopped dreaming. Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings is my favorite story. And basically it's a kind of relaxation for me after touring or working in the studio. I go into that world and everything is dark. And it's probably that connection. Both worlds are completely different from this gray time of ours.
I have a lot to say to Kotor
What repertoire will you perform in front of the Kotor audience?
First of all, I would like to meet the people of Kotor, and I would like to introduce myself to them in the best possible way. It is logical that the program should be based on the new album. However, it doesn't make sense for me to start the show from the end, so we will prepare a different list of songs for this occasion.
After all, we'll see how the concert goes. Given that I'm coming with Bojan Zulfikarpašić on piano, Ante Gela on guitar and Zvonimir Šestak on double bass, I'm afraid the concert will be very interesting. Now, whoever wants to come, prepare for a slightly longer concert. We have a lot to say.
Numerous performances during the summer and fall of 2017.
You have a very busy schedule of concerts in the coming period, you will be performing all over Europe. What are your plans for the next period? Will you have time to relax on the Montenegrin coast?
A lot of performances are scheduled for the continuation of the summer and autumn of this year, so it's a bit awkward for me to combine concerts and vacation. I would prefer to have performances somewhere nearby, so that I can relax on the beach for a while.
But I could come to Kotor again next year. And since I'm inviting myself like this, maybe the new concert will be again on August 11 at the Summer Stage next year?
So if anyone misses this time, see you next year, same place, same time.
Okay, jokes aside. As for vacation this year, I planned to come to Kotor a day earlier. I would like to take a short walk around town and have a coffee somewhere.
Bonus video:
