Amira Medunjanin

Amira Medunjanin

Amira Medunjanin is a singer from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who performs as Amira. She works within the sevdah tradition, and her repertoire is rooted in folk music, jazz and sevdalinka. Born in 1972, she develops her work from an interest in the oral traditions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the traditional music of the wider Balkans.

Early work and wartime performances

During the war in Sarajevo, Medunjanin works and performs with a number of local artists. She is also a member of the Artist group, which is established to continue the cultural development of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. The group gives numerous performances, concerts and studio recordings in Sarajevo.

Research into traditional music

In 1996, Medunjanin turns her attention more fully to traditional Balkan music and begins more detailed research into the cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Around this period she also performs with a choir at festivals and concerts across Croatia. Between 1997 and 1998, she develops the outline of a project intended to present Bosnian and Herzegovinian traditional music on the world music scene. She also supports other artists and helps them present their own work, while building contacts with organisations and institutions in Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands and England.

Mostar Sevdah Reunion and solo recording

Medunjanin makes her international debut on Mostar Sevdah Reunion’s 2003 album A Secret Gate, singing “Mujo Djogu Po Mejdanu Voda”. From 2002 to 2004, she performs with Mostar Sevdah Reunion on concerts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and appears on the same recording. In 2005, she releases her debut album, Rosa, on Snail Records. The album is recorded in late 2003 and features backing from Mostar Sevdah Reunion and production by Dragi Šestić in Amsterdam.

Collaborations and later project material

Her work also includes collaboration with the musician Merima Ključo on a project titled Zumra, which is presented as a set of traditional and arranged songs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and neighbouring regions. The listed material includes songs such as “Kradem ti se”, “Mehmeda majka budila”, “Kaleš bre Anđo”, “Simbil cveće”, “Mito bekrijo” and “Jo hanino tu hanina”, alongside pieces by Aleksa Šantić, Branko Radičević, Radoslav Grajić, Muhamed Mešanović Hamić and Flory Jagoda.