Damir Imamović

A long learning path

Sevdah music from Bosnia is a genre that lends itself very easily to sentimental warbling, but that is certainly not the case with singer Damir Imamović. Striving for effect is completely alien to him. That he can touch his listeners deep in the soul using minimal means is the result of a long formative journey that included encounters with various masters, not only in his home country but also in Turkey, Iran and India.

Innovation within tradition

Imamović is one of the leading innovators in a centuries-old Bosnian song tradition. He does that not by mixing in other genres but by exploring historical sources to get to the heart, enabling him to innovate from within. And when he accompanied himself on guitar, Damir clearly revealed the Turkish roots of the sevdah. Damir is coming to Music Meeting with the one and only Derya Türkan, an authority on classical Ottoman music and a virtuoso kemenche player. The thin, nasal sound of that small vielle emphasizes the Eastern dimension all the more. Žiga Golob from Slovenia completes the trio on contrabass.

Line-up

Damir Imamović - Vocals, tabor

Derya Türkan - Kemenche (vielle)

Žiga Golob - Contrabass