 |
Presented by:SNA (Sevdah North America)
Tickets:
Tickets also available at the following locations: BALKAN MARKET, INC BALKAN MARKET, LTD Mercator Dino's Grill  |
What is Sevdah North America?SNA is a non profit educational organization formed to preserve and promote sevdah on a grassroots level, and strengthen the link between cultures through music. Projects include the annual "North American Day of Sevdah" on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, musical performance tours, and research. Our website is a source of information about sevdah, as well as a place communities can post reports and photos from their events, with a page specifically for children to post art and writing inspired by sevdah. SNA will be a resource for advice about fund raising and concert production. Eventually, we hope to start a fund to help support sevdah-related events around North America. Our goals are only limited by our imagination and resources of time, energy and money. Artists and Ensembles
SponsorsEvening of Sevdah is sponsored by:
Many thanks to the following businesses and individuals for their wonderful contributions:
What is sevdah?Sevdah is the traditional music genre of urban town centers of old Bosnia and Herzegovina. The word "sevdah" is of Arabic origin meaning "love" in its many shades from maternal to longing to erotic. Furthermore, it refers to black bile, one of the four humors, or vital fluids, of ancient and medieval medicines. Black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood are nothing less than life's essence, the source of emotion. No wonder, then, people hold sevdah so dearly. When listening, reactions range from deep melancholy to euphoria. The texts of sevdalinke are diverse. Songs speak of unrequited love, yearning, separation from loved ones and distance from homeland. Yet there are light hearted flirtatious songs, too. Rich cultural references abound, as do historical personages and places. Sevdah defies easy classification, however ethnomusicologists refer to a number of elements: the influence of Ottoman music beginning in the 16th century with the arrival of the Turks, Sephardic and Slavic influences, the importance of the singers' personal interpretation and disposition, as well as common musical features such as Bosnian maqam (Arabic melodic mode), melodic ornamentation, and metric devices. Sevdah was traditionally found in wealthy Ottoman homes for small gatherings of friends and family. Additionally, sevdalinke were heard in taverns, coffee houses, picnics (teferic), gatherings of friends (sijelo) and exchanged between courting sweethearts through garden gates. In the 20th century with the advent of recording, radio and television, sevdah reached a significantly broader audience and, some feel, lost an intimate beauty afforded only in smaller settings. Sevdah became popular throughout, and among immigrants from, all of former Yugoslavia. Over the years, one element remains unchanged, the quality of the sevdah singer as the most critical element. The finest sing with emotion, restrained passion, depth and integrity. The style has been compared to Portuguese fado, American blues and Greek rembetika. Singers can touch a note so delicately as to break your heart or send their voices through the roof with emotion and power. Among the finest were Himzo Polovina, Nada Mamula, Zaim Imamovic and Safet Isovic who died just this month, God rest his soul. Internet Resources
| ||||||||||||||||
© 2007 shwebdesign.com |