Previous Events

 4TH ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN DAYS OF SEVDAH

•4TH ANNUAL EVENING OF SEVDAH IN SEATTLE - December 18, 2010

Held at the Museum of History and Industry's theater, this year's event featured an impressive line up of local artists including:  Selmah Kapidzic, Forklore Ensemble Sevdah, Daniela Ivanova, Dragi Spasovski, Elvir and Amina Becic, Fehim Salaka, Jesenko Lalic, Tali McGill, Mary Sherhart, Peter Lippman, Steve Ramsey, Joe Finn and more.  

•DAY OF STATEHOOD AND SEVDAH - December 12, 2010

Charlotte, NC - More information to follow

• 2ND ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF SEVDAH - November 13, 2010 

Culture at the Crossroads:  Evening of Bosnian Sevdah and Dance

Friday, May 7, 2010
8:00PM
Croatian American Cultural Center
60 Onondaga Avenue
San Francisco, CA  94112 

The evening featured sevdalinke by Bosnian performers now residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. The performers are Muhamed Kocan, Rasima Alisic Klisturic, and Hajrudin Hajric. They were joined by SNA President Mary Sherhart. The band included: Dzevad Zeric - accordion, Dzenan Gacanovic - key board and arrangments, and Fahir Crnojevic - guitar. The Bosnian dance ensemble, Mladost Bosne, also performed. Traditional food was served and the audience enjoyed dancing kolos, too.

Muhamed Kocan began singing sevdalinke in his native Karlovac, Croatia, at the age of seven. His home was filled with the beautiful voice of his mother who instilled in him an enduring love of sevdah and music of all kinds. Mr. Kocan won numerous first place awards throughout former Yugoslavia where he appeared with many renowned artists including Halid Beslic, Hanka Paldum and Serif Konjic. In the US, Mr. Kocan was one of 7 finalists in the “Stars of Bostel” competition, appeared in the 2009 St Louis Sevdah Days Festival, and serves on the board of Sevdah North America. He has a unique way of communicating his love for sevdah which makes him a special favorite among audiences. 

 "Negdje u daljini" CD release event for Sakib Jakupovic's "Sevdah"

Grbic Banquet Hall - 4071 Keokuk, St Louis, Missouri  63116.  Guest artists for the evening included:

• Mary Sherhart and "Balkan Cabaret" - Seattle, Washington
• Mirjana Grill - St. Louis
• Mensur Hatic - St Louis
• Isko i Ilijas Jakupovic - "Dunje bend" Detroit - Hamilton, Canada
• Munever Dzebic - Salisbury, North Carolina
• Ahmet Kadic - Grand Rapids, Michigan 
• Mensur Hatic - St. Louis, Missouri
• Mirsad Jarovic - Jacksonville, Florida
• Semso Islamovic - Detroit, Michigan

SEVDAH & SAUDADES:  A Bosnian-Brazilian jam and concert - March 20, 2010 at Rainier Valley Cultural Center 

Local Seattle artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brazil gathered for the first time ever to explore their cultures' common theme of love and longing:  sevdah in Bosnian and saudades in Portuguese. The fine artists include:  Eduardo Mendonca, Nedim "Hadzija" Hamzic, Srdjan Gino Yevdjevic, Edin Beho, Caxambu, Denny Stern and special guest Branko Pavlovic, a renown Rom musician in former Yugoslavia known as the "King of Sadnesss." The concert was funded by the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs; sponsored by Sevdah North America and Show Brazil.

THIRD ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN DAYS OF SEVDAH

Concerts and events were held St Louis, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; Boston, Massachusetts, San Jose, California, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Windsor, Ontario.  Click here  to read reports from these communities and see photos.

•SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 21, 2009

7:30PM Performing Arts Center at Foster High School, 4242 S. 144th Street, Tukwila, WA  98168 

"My Name is Sevdalinka - Zovem se Sevdalinka," a full-length theater piece written and directed by Denis Basic, PhD, music director Jesenko Lalic.  The concert featured singer Mine Krupic from Salt Lake City, originally from Prijedor, along with the following sevdah artists who live in Seattle:  Balkan Cabaret, Zlatne Strune, Folklore Ensemble Sevdah of Seattle, Mary Sherhart (vocal), Ekrem Pilic (vocal), Fehim Salaka (vocal), Nihad Djozic (saz and vocal), Peter Lippman (saz), Elvir Becic (accordion), Jesenko Lalic (guitar and vocal).  

•ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - DECEMBER 9-12, 2009

"St. Louis Sevdah Days Festival” included four separate concerts in December and January.  This first time multigenerational project was presented by Sevdah St Louis in unique collaboration with the International Institute, Bayless School District, International Folk Dance Association of University City and the Bosnian Islamic Center, and funded by Kresge Arts in St. Louis – a partnership of the Kresge Foundation, the Arts and Education Council and the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation.  Funding was also received from the Missouri Arts Council, a State agency.  It represents unprecedented community collaboration with broad support.  Funding also supported development of a website for Sevdah St Louis which is under construction:  http://udruzenjesevdahstl.org/  Events included a house concert, senior citizen concert, two school assemblies and formal concert.

•BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - two events:

NOVEMBER 24. 2009 - 7:00PM  THE STATEHOOD DAY OF BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA with "Meraklija" singing sevdah

BCCRD, Inc., 20 Wheeler Street, 4th floor, Lynn, MA 01902

NOVEMBER 27, 2009 - 7:30PM BAJRAMSKO SIJELO & VECE SEVDAHA, an evening of Eid-ul-Adha and 3rd Anniversary of Sevdah at New York

Chian Federation, 44-01 Broadway, Astoria NY 

NOVEMBER 28, 2009 - 7:30PM   Bosnia EID Celebration & Sevdah

Armory Hall Everett, 90 Chelsea Street, Everett, MA 02149 

•CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 28, 2009 

7PM (dolazak u 6:30) u prostorijama na UNCC 

106 Woodward Hall

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Charlotte, NC 28223

*WINDSOR, ONTARIO - CANADA - NOVEMBER 28

Bajramsko Sijelo and Vece Sevdaha at the Turkish Club, Windsor 

Second Annual North American Days of Sevdah - Nov & Dec 2008

 Communities joined together to celebrate sevdah at their community events in St Louis, Seattle, Windsor, New York.  The major concert was held in Seattle, Washington, at Town Hall.

First Annual North American Days of Sevdah - Nov 2007

Sevdah rang from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean on and around November 24, 2007. Events, articles, and radio and television broadcasts directly impacted thousands and indirectly touched countless more through publicity and after event broadcasts in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Click here to read and see photos of events in Seattle, Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, New York, Boston, Jacksonville, Charlotte, and Windsor.

To see videos from the concert in Seattle, visit SNA YouTube page here.

Bridge to Bosnia, a Musical Journey - April 13, 2008

Artists joined together for a concert at Temple Beth Am to raise funds for several organizations benefiting  Bosnia and Herzegovina:  http://www.bridgetobosnia.com.  All funds raised went to SEEDS (South East Europe Development Solutions), http://seeds-bih.org, which is the financial arm in the U.S. for BILD (Bosnia Initiatives for Local Development), http://www.bild-bih.org.

Balkan Cabaret & Kitka Women's Ensemble - April 24-26, 2008

SNA President Mary Sherhart (http://www.marysherhart.com), Balkan Cabaret (http://balkancabaret.com), and Kitka women's ensemble (http://www.kitka.org) held sevdah concerts in San Francisco, Oakland, and Santa Cruz, California.