Singer, humanitarian, and global ambassador for the culture and music of her native Bosnia & Herzegovina and the wider Balkan region, Amira Medunjanin has been described as “...one of the great voices of her generation, and almost certainly the finest from eastern Europe”(Observer); an artist with a “voluptuous voice (which) hovers enticingly between East an West” (Uncut magazine).

For the past fifteen years, since the release of debut album "Rosa", Amira Medunjanin recorded five studio albums and performed hundreds of concerts on four continents, which made her music popular around the world. As an internationally recognised artist in World Music, renowned for her incredibly unique vocal ability and divine beauty in expressing songs of her ancestors, Amira, as finest representative of Sevdah genre, is now opening a new chapter in her music career. Solely for the purpose of this jubilee, Amira announces retrospective album “Ascending”, which will be available as of Friday, October 5th 2018 on Town Hill Colony.
Inspired by Sevdah, Amira's music takes some new direction while staying true to her own soulful style. "Ascending" is a retrospective studio album, which showcases traditional music in a slightly different music environment combined with a classical setting of musicians. “Just like fifteen years ago, I still find important that our traditional music should reach, as many people as possible, so they are able to feel and understand what a beautiful soul we have” noted Amira “and all this time I have been intensively sharing my life with music and I felt the need to record an album which is in fact some kind of recap of my previous work. The usual thing is to publish compilation of already recorded songs that were interesting to listeners. But you know that neither I follow any trends, nor I obey the way the music industry works. With this album I am turning the new page in my life in music and hopefully I will endure until my 30th anniversary”.

STORY ABOUT THE ALBUM “ASCENDING”
Over the years, Amira had an opportunity to collaborate with classical orchestras from Croatia (Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists and Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra). The whole idea was to place traditional music in a new context and in this case for Amira this approach was a kind of experiment. The arrangements were made just to fit for the one-time concerts with the aforementioned orchestras. While, the concept, devised three years ago, was to record an album (songs from Balkans) with a chamber orchestra, in order to highlight the beauty of music and perhaps attract some new listeners. Amira is still pursuing the same goal since the beginning, which is promotion of cultural and musical heritage of Bosnia Herzegovina and wider region.  

The story with the TrondheimSolistene / Trondheim Soloists started few days before the Amira’s solo concert in Trondheim in December 2017. The organizer conveyed the request from Soloists to perform one song together at the concert. “Of course, without much thought, I was happy to play with them and with the great help of Ante Gelo, who made all strings arrangements for that occasion, we organized a rehearsal on the day of the concert. And, we did not play just one song together that night. It was a full-length concert with twelve soloists on the stage. Everything was absolutely perfect and without exaggeration, and it was one of the best concerts ever. Few days later, I have suggested that we should record an album together. And that is how the whole thing started. ” The concept of “Ascending” was divided in three segments (past, present and future). Namely, there is a selection of songs published on previous albums, but this time with new arrangements. Secondly, songs that were never recorded before, but Amira performed them only on concerts. And, at the end, there are four new songs that she never played, nor recorded before. Recorded in “Ora” music studio in Trondheim and Abbey Road studios in London, offered Amira the opportunity to work with such exquisite ensemble as TrondheimSolistene, as well as continuing to work with the brilliant artists and long-time friends Bojan Zulfikarpašic, Ante Gelo, Boško Jovic, Zvonimir Šestak and Nikola Stajic.

TrondheimSolistene / Trondheim Soloists has established itself as one of Norway’s leading chamber orchestras, winning international renown with a sound so distinctive in its Nordic clarity and openness. Featured on more than 50 albums, the string ensemble has been recognized with ten Grammy nominations and three Norwegian Spellemann Priser. The last (bonus) song "Nestaceš iz mog Života" was recorded with Bojan Zulfikarpašic on January 10, 2018 in Abbey Road studio in London. “I've always wanted to record this song. Primarily, this song has a unique power and I thought that this song should only be recorded there. I'm still under the impression, and if I get the chance, I would like to come back and record a few more songs. The place is really magical.”

CREDITS

• Produced by - Amira M.
• Co-producers - Ante Gelo & Bojan Z.
• Executive producer - Amira M.
• Mixed by Ollie Jacobs, Real World Studios - Bath, UK
• Mastered by Mandy Parnell, Black Saloon Studio London, UK
• Arrangements by - Ante Gelo & Bojan Z.
• Vocals - Amira M.
• Chamber orchestra - TrondheimSolistene
• Piano & percussions - Bojan Z.
• Double bass - Zvonimir Šestak
• Guitar - Ante Gelo
• Guitar - Boško Jovic
• Guitar - Nikola Stajic
• Tracks 1- 10 recorded in ORA studios Trondheim by Ollie Jacobs - 12-13. February 2018
• Bonus Track “Nestaceš iz mog života” recorded in Abbey Road Studios London by Ollie Jacobs - 10th January 2018
• Drawings: Azra Halilbegovic (cover)
• Design: Ideologija, Agency Sarajevo, B&H