A vocal workshop exploring songs describing magical trees and forest blazes with Svetlana Spajić, live from Belgrade.
ABOUT THIS EVENT
The Kitka Institute is pleased to partner with the East European Folklife Center to present our first "Vocal Ecology" Virtual Artist Residency featuring Serbian traditional singer and contemporary performance artist Svetlana Spajić.
Over the course of 3 weekends, Svetlana and special guests will present 4 online vocal workshops, a lecture demo, and a special intimate house concert.
Svetlana's second workshop focuses on a song dedicated to the javor (maple), a very special tree in Serbian tradition. Gusle, moje, drvo javorovo… (My gusle, made of maple wood!) is a common invocation in almost every epic song. The gusle is a bowed Serbian folk instrument used in bardic tradition. The maple is connected to cults of deceased ancestors, but is also a symbol of renewal and rejuvenation. Two songs will be presented in this workshop, both sung by Svetlana with Bokan Stanković, a great Serbian bagpipe master and outstanding singer of ballads from Eastern Serbia. We will learn Zapali se Ivica planina (Ivica Mountain is Burning) from the village of Popovica in Eastern Serbia, and Javore, javore (Oh, maple tree, maple tree) one of the most beloved tunes not only in Serbia but throughout the Balkans. The version of Javore, javore we will present is from the village of Vokovac on the slopes of the Homolje Mountain in Eastern Serbia. This is an unusual a cappella version with a na bas line specific to this locale. A YouTube quest will show you many versions of this tune, including interpretations by Predrag Živković Tozovac, Safet Isović, Nada Mamula, and other kickin’ old-school Balkan singers. Learn to sing this song and you’ll be praised in every kafana (coffee house/tavern) in Serbia!
ABOUT SVETLANA SPAJIĆ
Svetlana Spajić is internationally renowned for her work researching, teaching, and performing Serbian traditional singing. She specializes in the unique techniques and meanings of microtonal a cappella song forms. Over the last 25 years, she has roamed the Balkans, studying with the greatest village singers of the elder generation. Her collaborators include many greats of global traditional music and the contemporary avant-garde including Hronis Aidonidis, Domna Samiou, Yanka Rupkina, Cherifa Kersit, Stella Chiweshe, Marina Abramović, Robert Wilson, Zeitkratzer, Antony and the Johnsons, Sainkho Namtchylak, William Basinski, Urs Leimbgruber, and many others.
The songs Svetlana Spajić performs are, on one hand, uncompromisingly traditional, and on the other hand, completely in step with the research of avant-garde composers and musicians working with microtonality - music that frees our ears from the limitations of tempered Western Classical scales. These are songs that link us to an ancient world where the sacred, the profane, and the secular are all intertwined. These are old songs that carry a timeless resonance for the turbulence and challenges of 21st-century life.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
"In less than a century, mankind has managed to destroy an immense abundance of the Earth, and brought us to the verge of planetary destruction. Our ancestors wisely participated in a circle of life, connecting with nature's cycles and creatures through song and ritual. These songs reflect a world in which humanity was merely a humble part of the universe, expressing its responsibility for existence through thoughts, words, and actions. The songs presented in this series will guide us to a more intimate dialogue with the Earth, and strengthen our will to live more responsibly in relationship to the entirety of Creation." - Svetlana Spajić
The suggested donation for this workshop is $20, but feel free to contribute more or less as you are able. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Those who are able to pay more will help make this event accessible to those of more limited means.
Registrants will receive links to Zoom workshops and workshop materials folders in a registration confirmation message from Eventbrite.