As the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo has passed, I have been learning even more about the city and trying to better understand what happened. At the same time, I have been proudly showing my husband and his parents around, and feel optimistic as I am reminded of what a great city Sarajevo has become despite its tragic history.
On April 5th, my woodwind quintet performed at the Holiday Inn, as part of a memorial for the journalists who died during the siege. Also performing were several string players from my orchestra, a men’s vocal ensemble, and Vedran Smailovic, “the cellist of Sarajevo”. Vedran is quite eccentric, and has a unique way of dressing, (biker-cowboy) talking, and performing. He can easily draw quite a bit of attention from the media. I admire the fact that he uses this personal attention to raise awareness about what happened to Sarajevo, and to speak out against war.
The amount of photographers, reporters, videographers, etc, at the Holiday Inn was kind of intimidating. Between pieces, reporters, poets, and musicians were saying a few words in order to make introductions and tributes (mostly in English to suit the international audience). Since we were supposed to introduce ourselves in English, my quintet asked for me to do a bit of talking before we played. Yikes! I did just fine though, and kept it short and simple. Afterwards, we joked that, since some of the audience thought all of the musicians were Bosnian, they were probably very impressed with my English. J
I tried to play my best for the rehearsal and performance, knowing that the event was making international news. However, I was recovering from a pretty yucky flu, and felt so tired and weak. I really wish I had felt better this week, so that I could practice and make some good reeds for the performance, but alas… Playing for such an important event was a big honor, and I was just happy to be invited to be a part of it.
After finishing the performance at the Holiday Inn, I stayed in the city for the opening of the Sarajevo International Guitar Festival. I went with Ross to his registration, and afterward we met his parents for dinner at a great restaurant in Bascarsija called “To Be”. We then headed over to the army hall for the premiere concert of the guitar festival, featuring Denis Azabagic on guitar and his wife, Eugenia Moliner, on flute. Denis is Bosnian, but now lives in Chicago and is Ross’s former guitar teacher. He is a supporter of the Cultural Exchange Program that sent me here, so it was very nice to finally see him in Sarajevo, and watch him and his wife perform. I was especially interested in hearing their concert, since they are such a successful husband/wife guitar/woodwind duo.
In true Bosnian spirit, there were a series of three post-concert celebrations: one at the hall and two at nearby pubs. I had a great time hanging out with Ross, my roommate Sara, my friends that organized the festival, and some of the guest artists and participants.
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