Balkan Festivals Northwest Presents

an Evening of Macedonian Music
Dragi

Dragi

Tuesday, Nov. 11th
It's a Beautiful Pizza
3342 SE Belmont St.
Portland, Oregon

Dragi Spasovski was born in the small village of Studena Bara, near Kumanovo, only 25 km from Skopje. His family moved to Skopje when he was 4, and Skopje is the place where he made his first steps in exploring life, art, music and dancing. He was "the" actor in elementary school drama, then joined the school ballet group, and finally, influenced by his mother's singing, mostly in their home, he found himself swept away by the folk spirit.

Most of the songs Dragi has recorded he learned from his mother, "songs which were inside of me since I was a child, songs which I shared with myself and others when I was happy and when I was sad. The song was, is, and will be a description of me, a picture of my soul."

Stefce

Stefče

Doors open at 8:00pm.
Show at 8:30.

Stefče Stojkovski was born in Skopje in 1972. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing kaval, supelka, gajda, zurla, tambura, tarabuka, tapan, and others. He learned music from his father and grandfather, and first won recognition as a kaval soloist at a festival when he was seven.

Stefče also studied under Pece Atanasovski. When Pece retired, Stefče took his place in the Macedonian national radio and television network's ensemble. He's recorded over 2,000 "signatures" and also worked in theater and on film scores. He leads his own folk music ensemble in Skopje, where he continues to record as well as teach.