The lucky day for Texans who are for musical diversity finally marked the calendar! Goran Bregović’s live concert at the Bass Concert Hall of the University of Texas made news again in the folk music lovers’ circles.
Composer and guitarist Goran Bregović was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia), to a Croatian father and Serbian mother. Goran played violin in a music school, however, deemed untalented, he was thrown out during second grade. His musical education was thus reduced to what his friend taught him until Goran's mother bought him his first guitar in his early teens. When he was sixteen, he mostly had to take care of himself and did that by playing folk music in a Konjic bar, working on construction sites, and selling newspapers.
Today Bregović is recognized as one of the most internationally known modern composers of the Balkans. He has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesaria Evora. First success came when Goran wase playing guitar in his rock band Bijelo dugme. Among his better known scores are Emir Kusturica’s films (Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, Underground).
Bregović performs with a large ensemble of musicians. A brass band, bagpipes, a string ensemble, a tuxedo-clad all-male choir from Belgrade, and traditional Bulgarian and Roma singers make up his 40-piece band and orchestra.
Since 1998 Bregović has been performing his music mainly in the form of concerts all over the world with his Weddings and Funerals Orchestra. This consists of 10 people (in the small version) or 37 (in the large version, although at some instances this number will be different, depending on participants from the host country).
The Weddings and Funerals Orchestra concert at the University of Texas in Austin is scheduled for June, 17. Check this site for contact info.