“Goran Bregovic and his Weddings and Funerals Band…had the audience eating out of their hands…Bregovic makes a music that runs the spectrum from ecstatic, robustly earthy dance music, to naughty pop tunes, to vocal and string arrangements ripe with sentimentality…a lyrical, beautifully paced evening.” – Daily Star, Lebanon

Ever heard of Goran Bregovic?  For decades he was one of the biggest rock stars in Yugoslavia, as the guitarist and main songwriter for Bijelo Dugme (White Button).  Born in Sarajevo of a Serbian mother and a Croatian father, composer and guitar player Goran had to abandon his prolific musical career in the late eighties, when the war in Yugoslavia required him to take exile in Paris.

For years following Goran wrote musical scores to award-winning international films and theater productions.  In 1995, after 10 years of abandoning his rock roots, he assembled a band of 10 traditional musicians, a choir of 50 singers and a symphony orchestra, and undertook a series of mega-concerts in Greece and Sweden followed by a concert given October 26 at the Forest National of Brussels.  A concert in May at the Piazza St. Giovanni in Rome in front of 500,000 people confirmed beyond any doubt that his music now had a real impact on an international level.

Throughout his career, Bregovic has collaborated with some of the worlds greatest international performers, including Iggy Pop (Arizona Dream), Ofra Haza (La Reine Margot), Cesaria Evora (Underground), Scot Walker in the UK, Setzen Aksu in Turkey, George Dalaras in Greece, and Kayah in Poland.

Since the 90’s Bregovic has produced multiple symphonic works and has performed to sold-out audiences all over all over the Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and South America.

In January 2009, the first part of the new CD “Alkohol,” recorded live in Guca in the summer of 2007, came out in France. Guca is a small town in Serbia of approximately 20,000 inhabitants that holds an annual contest of brass bands each August and swells to 150,000 people. Shaded by tents from the scorching heat, they drink, eat grilled meat and sour-kraut, drink, listen to the music and drink again for three days…. which explains the title. The remainder of 2009 includes an American tour in June, a new piece for “Bang on a Can” with a première at Lincoln Center in August, more tours in Europe and the second part of “Alkohol” in the fall.

Goran brings his 20-piece Wedding and Funeral Orchestra to the Bass Concert Hall stage on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 for one of a handful of concerts in the United States this year. This spectacular Orchestra includes a Serbian brass band, string ensemble, and choir. This is certain to be one of the most talked about world music events for years to come!