INTERVIEW: Bosnian blues to be played in special NYC concert
Photo: Merima Ključo and Miroslav Tadić will perform for the first time in New York City. Photo courtesy of WMI / Provided by PR agent with permission.
Merima Ključo, an accordionist from Bosnia, and Miroslav Tadić, a guitarist with Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian origins, will team up for a special concert called Aritmia Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The two will play traditional songs from the Balkans, a region in southeast Europe, plus select classical tunes from a variety of composers.
On the bill will be works by Erik Satie and Manuel de Falla, plus a few selections of so-called Bosnian blues. A varied and culturally significant evening is promised.
Ključo has worked with many high-profile orchestras, including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Holland Symphonia. Tadić, on the other hand, has performed with such luminaries as Plácido Domingo, the London Symphony Orchestra and Wadada Leo Smith.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Ključo about the weekend performance, which is presented by World Music Institute. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
When did you first fall in love with the accordion?
As a child I fell in love with the sound of the accordion in the folk music I grew up with. Later I fell in love with the instrument again, and with the same passion, through its use in (classical) contemporary music. All those keys and little buttons, bellow that [breathes] in and out, like an amazing, wonderful monster that moves together with your body. I started as a child, studied accordion for years, went to different conservatories and music academias, and still after all these years I am amazed with the sound and all possibilities that this instrument has.
And I still experience it with the same passion I had had when I was a child. The accordion is one of the youngest instruments, and as any other instrument, it needs time to evaluate from the ‘simple’ folks music instrument to a ‘serious’ and ‘approved’ concert instrument.
There is only contemporary repertoire for the accordion, so you have to love contemporary music if you want to be concert accordionist. The instrument didn’t exist in time of [Johann Sebastian] Bach, [Ludwig van] Beethoven, [Wolfgang Amadeus] Mozart or other big classical composers. But, amazing contemporary composers (like [Sofia] Gubaidulina, [Luciano] Berio) wrote for the accordion, and more and more composers are writing for the instrument.
What’s it like to collaborate with Miroslav Tadić?
He is like a wizard! In his hands guitar becomes an instrument with so many different colors. Every time we play together is like the first time: energetic, fresh, lively. It is like celebrating life and our profession over and over again.
What can audiences expect at the NYC concert?
Lots of excitement — due to an unusual combination of instruments, next to a variety of material ranging from our arrangements of music by Bela Bartók, Satie, de Falla to complex Balkan folk themes that feature unusual rhythmic, metric and melodic structures.
How would you describe Bosnian blues?
Songs of love, desire, yearning. Beautiful melodies and harmonies, interesting scales, rhythms, ornaments. Sang and played through centuries, they keep inspiring musicians not only from Bosnia but nearly anyone who gets in touch with this music.
Do you get back to the Balkans a lot? Does the culture and music still inspire you?
Yes, I do get back to Balkans a lot. Balkan music and culture will never stop to inspire me. There is so much variety, so many different styles. I would definitely need more than one life to explore it all!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Merima Ključo and Miroslav Tadić will perform Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space. Click here for more information and tickets.
