Hey! It's been a while. I'll be back with some updates, posts and end-of-year lists soon, but I wanted to share that last week, online magazine Kosovo 2.0 published my interview with Dina e Mel, one of the most wonderful classical/world music duos of the moment!
I absolutely loved their album "Bërbili" and knew when I heard it that I wanted to interview them -- lucky for me, they said yes! Dina e Mel make music from their home base in Zadar, Croatia, and "Bërbili" is a collection of songs from the Dalmatian city's Arbanasi. The Arbanasi are some of Zadar's oldest residents, and yet their Albanian dialect, way of life, and musical culture are slowly fading into history. With this album, Dina e Mel reinterpret Arbanasi songs for new audiences and preserve them for the community.
You can read the full interview here. You can also find it in Albanian and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.
Thanks to Kosovo 2.0 and my friend and collaborator Danny for helping to make this happen! Thanks of course, as well, to the fabulous Dina e Mel.