KotorArt Festival: Alchemy of Soul

Friday, August 11, 2017
Summer stage, 22:00

One of the most famous ‘’sevdalinka’’ singers, Amira Medunjanin will hold a concert ”Alchemy of Soul” at the Sixteenth Annual KotorArt Don Branko’s Days of Music on the Summer stage, on Friday the 11^th of August. She will perform with guitarist Ant Gel, bassist Zvonimir Šestak and jazz pianist Bojan Zulfikarpašić. The ”Alchemy of soul” concert will be held with the support of Coca-Cola.

Amira Medunjanin is the winner of the prestigious Best Female Vocal Award 2012, awarded by the French Foundation “Orange”. After performing on the album “A Secret Gate” in 2003 by Mostar Sevdah Reunion, she recorded her debut album “Rosa” (“Snail Records”) in 2005 and the music critic, Clive Davis, declared it the album of the year. Then live DVDs followed (“Gramophone”, 2009), with recordings of concerts at the Bosnian Cultural Center Sarajevo during the Jazz Fest Sarajevo, and Zumra (“World Village”, 2010), produced in cooperation with accordion player Merim Ključo. The album Amulette (“Harmonia Mundi”, 2011), featuring Bojan Zulfikarpasic, Bahar Kalife, Nenad Vasilic, Kim Barton, Valter Kvintus and Vlatko Stefanovski, received great reviews in respectable world magazines such as The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Security, etc.  The latest album, “Silk and Stone” (“Harmonia Mundi”, “World Village”, 2014) was recorded in the studio of the Little Concert Hall “Vatroslav Lisinski” in Zagreb and the latest DVD ‘’ Damar’’ was filmed in the studio “Real World Studios” by Peter Gabriel in Great Britain.

Ante Gelo, guitarist, composer and arranger, graduated with jazz guitar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. He has performed at numerous concerts and jazz festivals in well-known halls and he has collaborated with artists such as Boško Petrović, Matija Dedić, Tamara Obrovac, Lijepe Harper, Albert Marsik as well as performers of pop music. He is the winner of many “Porina” awards.

Zvonimir Šestak, double bass player, studied jazz double bass first at the Kertner Landeskonservatorium, then at the University of Graz. His cooperation with the Big Band of Croatian Music Youth started in 2009, and he collaborated with artists such as Tamara Obrovac, Satoshi Inoue, Deborah Carter, Simon Marol, Klemens Marktl and others. He performs at jazz festivals and concert halls around the world. He won the “Status” Award of the Croatian Music Union, as well as many “Porina” awards.

Bojan Zulfikarpašić, pianist, composer and arranger, having trained in Michigan, became interested in the rich tradition of Balkan music. After moving to Paris in 1988, he released his first album Bojan Z Quartet, followed by Solobsession, Transpacific, Xenophonia, Soul Shelter, Le Duo, as well as collaborating with jazz musicians, Scott Cole, Naughty Waltz, Žilijen Luro and others. He has performed at more than a thousand concerts at the most famous jazz festivals. He holds the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature from the French Government.