Balkan Cellos

Cellusion Summer Tour

• Dmitri Prokofjev
• Olesja Anakovskaja
• Andrej Zakrajšek
• Maja Antić-Kalezić
• Vladimir Virok-Stoletov
• Sari Šaćiri
• Milan Ninković
• Lazar Bubanja

Slaven Ljujić – percussion

About the project:

The Montenegrin non-governmental organization-the International Music and Performing Arts Association (IMSA) has launched a concert cycle project. The project is to promote and present to the audience ahead-of-its-time “Balkan 8” music ensemble. It is comprised of eight cellists and one percussionist. The creator and artistic director of the ensemble is a well-known cellist Dmitry Prokofiev. This one-of-a-kind ensemble has united musicians from Montenegro and the region, with the common aim of reinterpreting and presenting to the audience the richness of the varieties of traditional melodies specific of the Balkans. In addition to these, there are also the melodies of other world’s cultures. All this is planned to be done using the original arrangements, and is envisioned as a highly professional concert performance.

Why eight cellos to begin with?

The ensemble comprised of eight cellos represents a rare instance in the world’s music circles, owing to the complexity of the performance and the out-of-this-world possibilities for expressiveness offered by such an instrumental ensemble. The cello’s sound offers a wide tonal range, from deep and full basses on one hand,  to the melodic lines similar to the human voice on the other.  The Ensemble Balkan 8 introduces the audience to the rich, pervading and strong musical experience in combination with percussion.

The repertoire and artistic concept:

The “Balkan 8” ensemble specializes in performing original authorial arrangements of the melodies from the Balkans in addition to the music heritage of the various nations across the world.

Their repertoire encompasses:

• Traditional melodies from the parts of former Yugoslavia and wider Balkans.
• The Ethno-musical themes including those from: Europe, Middle East, India, Central Asia and Africa.
• There are also Medieval and older folk songs on their repertoire, as well as certain segments of classical and film music entwined together into the thematic units. The ensemble also uses techniques of collage, re-composition and blending together of various music forms, thus creating some completely new pieces that retain the authentic character of the original melody but in the spirit of contemporary performance.