Esma Redzepova and Folk Masters This Friday, April 29
Friday, April 29 at 7:30pm, $12, $8 students
Beall Concert Hall
Tickets are available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363.
The concert of the UO World Music Series (a program of the UO School of Music and Dance) is made possible by the UO Department of Anthropology and the UO Program in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies. Additional support comes from series sponsors: the Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; and the UO Department of International Studies.
A concert of Romani (Gypsy) and Macedonian music performed by the legendary singer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Esma Redzepova and ensemble.
The internationally acclaimed Redzepova is known as “Queen of Romani Songs” and is one of NPR’s “50 Great Voices.”
Born in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, she began her professional career at the age of thirteen. She was the first Balkan performer to make Romani music popular with non-Romani audiences on elite concert stages in the early 1960s.
Redzepova has performed for many heads of state and has toured more than four decades, giving more than 8,000 concerts in over 30 countries. She sings in ten languages, and has played in plazas, stadiums, and opera houses; for villagers as well as world leaders. Her ensemble has performed over 400 musical pieces on dozens of recordings, several of which achieved “gold” status in the former Yugoslavia.
In addition to her stage work, Redzepova is a world-renowned humanitarian, fostering 49 children and educating them in music and career development. She will be accompanied by these protégés, spanning three generations, lead by master accordionist and ensemble arranger Simeon Atanasov.
Redzepova is honorary president of the Macedonian Red Cross, and has given more than one thousand benefit concerts. In 2000 the Sorority of Roma Women proclaimed her Woman of the Millennium, and in 2002 she was nominated a second time for the Nobel Peace Prize and as United Nations Ambassador for Refugees in Macedonia. In 2010, she was awarded the Macedonian Order of Merit, and in 2013 she was proclaimed a National Artist of Macedonia.