The "soul" of the sevdalinka melody has captured my heart and thoughts

Mary Sherhart, an American djul-kaduna (Lady Rose) of sevdalinka
THE “SOUL” OF THE SEVDALINKA MELODY HAS CAPTURED MY HEART AND THOUGHTS

Bosniaks.Net: I had a special privilege of attending your performance on May 26, 2007, during which you brought the audience to feel that they were back in their homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina. You performed before a full house, at the dinner organized by Congress of North American Bosniaks, which dinner was attended by some 800 Bosniaks including leading political and religious leaders who flew in from Bosnia for the occasion of the 12-th annual gathering of North American Bosniaks.

How come an American, who was born halfway around the world away from Bosnia, discovers sevdalinke and delves into them?

Mary SHERHART: Thank you very much for your kind comments and to be addressed as a djul-kaduna. You pay me a real honor. First, I would like to express my sincere sympathy for the sad loss of your cultural treasure Safet Isovic. Dr. Semir Vranic wrote from Sarajevo to tell me and also said a driving rain fell during the memorial. Even the heavens wept to see such a great artist leave the world. It was so soon after Meho Puzic's death and then Pavarotti followed, also too young at 71. So sad to see these great artists leave us, but they are surely making beautiful music in heaven.

Safet Isovic, Nada Mamula, Himzo Polovina were some of the great artists I heard on record albums when I was a teenager in the 1970's. From the first moment, the soulful melodies of sevdalinke captured my heart and imagination. Sevdah is indeed an emotional, poetic, historic and cultural jewel.

However, it was the reaction of people from Bosnia and Herzegovina to these songs that really inspired me to dive into sevdah over the past few years. My group Balkan Cabaret (www.balkancabaret.com) added sevdalinke to our repertoire as more of your people started attending our concerts. Their emotions ran so high when hearing Mujo kuje, Sa Igmana pogled lijep and others. The music has taken me and Balkan Cabaret into the warmth of Bosnian people, your rich culture, incomparably beautiful homeland and delicious pita!

There is something deeply human ingrained in sevdah

Bosniaks.Net: Sevdalinka is a form of artistic expression which is complex in that it has its own and very specific melodic structures and warm emotional, nostalgic and sentimental messages and is indigenous to Bosniaks. It is not easy to deliver a good sevdalinka as there is nothing like it anywhere else. I saw your performance and it felt as if a native Bosnian was performing. Please tell us about your musical background.

Mary SHERHART: Though it is my great joy and honor to sing sevdalinke, I will never compare to a Bosnian who has grown up in the culture, steeped in the sights, sounds, memories and language of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, there is something so deeply human in sevdah. Even people who don't understand a word are moved. That's what I try to catch in my performances, the emotion.
You ask about my musical background and training. I have a double major in ethnomusicology and arts management, but it was practical experience that was my real teacher. I seem to have been born singing. Singing has been the ground under my feet and the center of my life. I joined my first school choir as a 4th grader in Fairbanks, Alaska. My brother Bill, God rest his soul, gave me a record album that year of Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens which I wore out playing over and over. Also, that year a string or woodwind quartet visited my school. That exposure inspired me to want to become a symphony conductor. Well, that didn't happen, but music was obviously my raison d'etre and took me on a choral music path. I loved the way voices could join together to make beautiful harmony, people working together for a common goal. I loved the different kinds of repertoire: classical, folk, jazz, Broadway, ethnic; the rich variety of emotional expression.

In 1970, I joined a local ensemble in Seattle called Koleda. It was a group of Americans who studied and performed the dances, songs and instrumental music of the Balkans. We immersed ourselves in the cultures through rehearsals, recordings, language and socializing with the very few people in Seattle from the Balkans. In fact, as a senior in high school I lived with a Serbian man and his American wife who were members of Koleda. One of my most stirring memories was singing a Bulgarian song as a 16-year-old girl for the ambassador from Bulgaria. What a thrill! I had the benefit of many recordings and wonderful teachers who inspired me and the others in the group many of whom went on to impressive careers including the famous modern dance choreographer Mark Morris, musical playwright and composer Chad Henry, international artist and concert flute maker Alexander Eppler. It was an fertile atmosphere of budding young artists.

Over the years, I have maintained a "beginners mind," always wanting to learn more and improve. I've taken voice lessons, musicology courses and immersed myself in the culture of the Balkans. For a year and a half in the mid-1980's I lived in Bulgaria and sang with a professional folk choir in Varna on the Black Sea. I also visited villages throughout Bulgaria to learn about traditional singing in a cultural setting. That was during the Communist regime and very few Americans were in the country. It was an incomparable opportunity to learn the language, hone listening skills, experience the world and make dear friends.

I have directed a number of folk choirs here in Seattle including the Sedyanka Balkan Women's Choir, Vecerinka Balkan Women's Choir and New Land Choir. There is a sizeable Dalmatian community just north of Seattle. In the mid-1970's and again in the 1990's I was the choir director of their Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble. During that time I attended the Klapa Festival in Omis twice and learned about their Dalmatian culture. So many evenings in baba's basement singing Dalmatian songs with friends while she fried up delicious hrstule. I have had the pleasure of working with many Balkan choirs throughout the US and teaching vocal workshops to the public. Your readers might be interested in looking at the website of the East European Folklife Center ((www.eefc.org)) which holds two Balkan music and dance camps during the summer. Some of the finest musicians and dancers living in North America and abroad teach and the evening parties are a feast of music from all across the Balkans.
When recording “Ne klepeci nanulama”, I was a real waterworks thinking about my own mother's grave

Bosniaks.Net: You not only hit every note and transition, but your pronunciation and annunciation is an original Bosnian one. How do you explain that? It is not just talent, there is more to it.

Mary SHERHART: I try to express my respect for your culture by working very hard on every detail. When a particular song moves me emotionally by its text and/or melody, I first listen to it many, many times, and do my best to transcribe and translate the words. Then I consult with a native speaker who corrects my mistakes. This is often the most stimulating part of the process because inevitably people share stories about their life, their memories and emotions around the song. Sevdalinke are a window not only into the culture, but into each person's life. Then it’s just singing and singing and singing: working on a tricky ornament, putting a beautiful phrase over a long passage by measuring my breath, thinking about the story and making sure the singing fits the tale – should it be tender or joyful or passionate? After all that technical work, then I reach down into my heart and find something personal that connects me to the song – separation, longing, love. When I first started singing Negdje u daljini, tears would sometimes stop me. When recording Ne klepeci nanulama, I was a real waterworks thinking about my own mother's grave.

So, yes, there is more to the story. I saw something in the eyes of people from Bosnia and Herzegovina that my heart recognized – a sadness, a depth. You went through a war that I cannot begin to understand on any but the most superficial level. Your losses are so wide and deep, that I would never be so presumptuous as to compare my life with yours. However, I empathize deeply. By age 21, I had lost my father to a heart attack, my mother to cancer, one brother to suicide and the other brother simply disappeared – there is no grave to mourn him. By the time I had graduated from high school I had lived in around 12 different places between Seattle and Fairbanks and attended 10 schools. They say you've got to live the blues to sing them and I guess that's true in my case. Now, because I am blessed with three beautiful children and a stable life, I feel compelled to give back to the people of the Balkans whose friendship, music and culture gave me so much.

Bosniaks.Net: It is my understanding that you do not perform only covers but that you have composed your own sevdalinke. Is it correct to say that?

Mary SHERHART: I wish it were true. Composition is such an incredible gift and skill. I am in total awe of composers. To be able to make something so beautiful from nothing like Leonard Bernstein, Elmer Bernstein (To Kill a Mockingbird score composer) and Sir Thomas Beecham (Love in Bath) were extremely inspiring to me as a young girl. Several years ago I was so taken by a composition by Croatian composer Tomislav Uhlik that I created a major production in the Pacific Northwest focused on the piece. It was two years in planning, involved residencies by Mr. Uhlik and the then orchestra director of Ensemble Lado Goran Kacurov, a 50-voice mixed choir. 20-piece orchestra and many volunteers. The music was so very fine!

The muezzin called melodiously from the mosque as if to bless the concert as it began

Bosniaks.Net: You have performed in Bosnia. Please tell us about that experience.

Mary SHERHART: Words fall short to describe my emotions on the Bascarsijske Noci stage. The night was beautiful with a clear sky. The muezzin called melodiously from the mosque as if to bless the concert as it began. Hundreds of people filled the square, each with a story of war, love, hope and sorrow, sitting before the backdrop of the national library, a symbol of both cruelty and hope. It was a moment of crystal clear poetry.

Let me again publicly thank Mr. Omer Pobric and his Institut Sevdaha, Fondacija Omera Pobrica (www.institutsevdaha.ba), for making this experience and so much more possible. He opened his home and gave generously of his talents. We recorded three cd's: Srce Puno Bosne and two that are not released. He included me in the Sevdah Festival at Bascarsijske Noci and arranged for many appearances on radio and television. We attended the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica at Potocari together and toured in the United States along with Hasiba Agic, Nusreta Kobic and Esad Kovacevic. Associates of Institut Sevdaha like Dr. Semir Vranic and Jasmin Odobasic continue to be very generous with their time and resources. Dr Vranic's website contains a wealth of information about sevdah: www.sevdalinke.com
I deeply regret that we were not able to reach an agreement to open the Sevdah Institute Omer Pobric North America, but sincerely hope to continue to work with him through Sevdah North America which shares a common goal of preserving and promoting sevdah.

Now when I sing, I visualize Bosna: Vrelo Bosne, Skakavac and the magical springs from which the waters flow, Mostar, stecci, Stolac, Lukomir and the incredible road there which goes from alpine meadows to moon-like terrain. I can smell the rain on fields. I can hear the children of Mulici playing outside. The heat of summer and the cold of Kurban Bajram. Coffee with Munevera, Dina and Zlata. Potocari. Jasmin and Semir. The smile of Selma. The Begovic girls. The voices of so many fine singers. Delicious pita!


Bosniaks.Net: The youth of Bosnia lives across North America, mainly in the States. Do you have a plan of reaching out to them and teaching them the music of their homeland?

Mary SHERHART: Youth is the future, so their participation is extremely important and very tricky to get with competition from computers, pop music, sports and the general tempo of life in North America. SNA plans to learn about what activities are already happening in the communities which involved children and sevdah singing, as well as explore other cultures' successful activities from which to get ideas. We welcome your suggestions. I do see an opportunity to get children together with Bosnian senior citizens who have so much to share, whether in organized events or informal family gatherings. It will bring great joy to the grandmas and grandpas to give something so beautiful from their culture to their North American grandkids. SNA, explained in the next paragraph, will have a special page on our website where young artists and authors will be invited to post their work.

The scent of behar

Bosniaks.Net: There are numerous Bosniak cultural, artistic and folklore organizations in North America. They are the natural ambassadors of sevdalinka. Do you plan to work with them and help strengthen their ties to their own musical ancestry, sevdalinke?

Mary SHERHART: It is always a special joy to see the children's dance groups in many Bosnian communities. So much love and many hours by so many people go into these groups. A link with these organizations will be very important in the work of the new SNA. What is it?

A hard working dedicated group of individuals across North America have started a new organization called Sevdah North America (SNA). Its mission is to preserve and promote sevdah on a grassroots level, and strengthen the link between the Diaspora communities and Bosnia and Herzegovina through music. We have many exciting plans including an Annual day of Sevdah on the Saturday after American Thanksgiving, musical performance tours, academic symposium, research among the long time immigrants from Bosnia in Chicago, competition for newly composed sevdalinke, and more. Our website will be a source of information about sevdah, as well as a place communities can post reports and photos from their events. There will be a page for children to post art and writing inspired by sevdah. We will be a resource for advice about fund raising and concert production. Eventually, we hope to start a fund to help support sevdah-related events around North America. Our goals are only limited by our imagination and resources of time, energy and money. If there is something your readers would like to help SNA with, please write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Here's one thing you can do today:

I invite every community to hold an event on the first annual Day of Sevdah which is November 24 this year, SNA's first project. It can be as small as a gathering of family and friends to sing your favorite old sevdalinke, or, as we are doing in Seattle, it can be a formal concert in which many artists will perform. In Seattle our "Evening of Sevdah: The Love Songs of Bosnia and Herzegovina" has been funded in part by two grants, one from the Seattle People's Fund and another from the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. Some of the performers include: Ekrem Pilic, Fehim Salaka, Ensemble Sevdah, KUD Behar, Ruze Dalmatinke, Zlatne Strune, Dragi Spasovski, John Morovich and more. The concert will engage community members of all ages in decorating the stage like a traditional Bosnian house, as ushers, making and selling handicrafts, publicity and more. It is our hope that this event will inspire many artistic collaborations and serve as a model for other communities.

Bosniaks.Net: Where can one buy your CDs?

Mary SHERHART: I have three CD's available:
1. Srce Puno Bosne with Omer Pobric
2. Somewhere Far Away featuring my band Balkan Cabaret with guest vocalists Dragi Spasovski, John Morovich and Marko Vukadinovic
3. Heartfelt Songs From a Balkan Café featuring my band Balkan Cabaret

Price: $15 + $2 shipping (add $1 for each additional cd) checks payable to Mary Sherhart. Mail to:
Mary Sherhart
Sevdah North America
P O Box 99667
Seattle, WA 98139-0667
Other CDs and resources are available from Institut Sevdaha at: www.institutsevdaha.ba.

Bosniaks.Net: Is there any new sevdalinka material in the works?

Mary SHERHART: Currently, my energy is focused on getting SNA off the ground, although I would love to visit every community and sing with local musicians. I recorded two CDs of sevdalinke, in Bosnian and in English translations, with Omer Pobric last winter. I am not certain when these will be released.
I love Bosnia and can not wait to return

Bosniaks.Net: When are you planning your next visit to your other homeland, Bosnia, the home of sevdalinka?

Mary SHERHART: I hope to go to Bosna within the next year, ako Bog da. There are a number of academics and artists who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting. SNA is interested in connecting with everyone who works with sevdah, recognizing it goes far beyond any one person. I love Bosnia and can't wait to return!


Bosniaks.Net: Have you made a long term commitment to be a sevdalinka author and performer?

Mary SHERHART: I believe my most valuable contribution to sevdah can be by bringing people together with the music. I don't pretend to be an expert nor do I have an academic focus. My interest is purely as an artist. My heart is filled with the love for Bosnia and Herzegovina, sevdah and the people who love it

Bosniaks.Net: What is your message to our readers and your listeners?

Mary SHERHART: Music offers a well of comfort and joy that each individual person can access any moment of any day. Specifically, sevdah takes on an even deeper meaning to people like you who suffered the trauma and displacement of war. Lift up your voices and open your hearts by singing these old songs that take you back to a happier time. Your elders will light up if you get them singing. Sevdah is a bridge into the language, culture and art of Bosnia and Herzegovina for your children and others. Finally, take sevdah off the stage and into your homes. Invite a few friends and/or family members over once a month for an aksamluk. Who knows….maybe some asikluk will happen, too!
Željko Milićević
(www.bosniaks.net)