An Afternoon of Macedonian Music

There is a saying: When going Bosnia do not sing, when going to Serbia do not dance, but if visiting Macedonia do not dance and do not sing either—because they do it too well. This afternoon, Bojana and Irena will take you through a historical and musical journey of voice and flute through the beautiful culture of one of most musically rich countries, Macedonia.

This concert of Macedonian music is a huge challenge for both Bojana and Irena, both born and raised in Macedonia. The reason being is that the music itself spans a lot of richness and complexity in itself, such as the 7/8 irregular time signature that comes from Macedonia, the 11/16, and many more rhythms. There are also different nuances that the singers and musicians must capture, such as singing with the authentic technique and emotional expression.

Macedonian traditional music carries a pure and honest emotional expression involving effortless singing that is very similar to the Italian singing technique, the belcanto, which means “beautiful effortless singing”, also known as lyrical singing.

On the other hand, there are other types of Macedonian songs that carry oriental influences such as the legendary song Jovano Jovanke (Yovano Yovanke), as Macedonia was under the Ottoman Empire for 500 years.

Some of the most iconic Macedonian songs were naturally inspired by this oriental influence, therefore musicians performing them have to express deep and dramatic expressions, which are quite the opposite to lyrical approach.