EEMC’s opening event promises an evening of energy and authentic music with Balkan Taksim, one of Romania’s most original bands. With a unique mix of folk rhythms and electronic sounds, Balkan Taksim creates a colourful and vibrant musical kaleidoscope, continuing to surprise audiences following the success of their debut album “Disko Telegraf” (2021) with their second album “Acide balkanique” (2025). The band performed at Paléo Festival de Nyon, Paraiso Festival Madrid, BOZAR Brussels, Balkanik Festival, Electric Castle, Jazz in the Park & Astra Film Festival. They have been championed by Iggy Pop, Gilles Peterson, Nick Luscombe & Stuart Maconie, and they were nominated for the Music Moves Europe Awards (2022). For this special inaugural performance at EEMC, they will be joined by two prominent guests, friends of the band, each with their own impressive contribution to preserving and updating regional musical heritage.
Svetlana Spajić is a Serbian traditional singer based in Belgrade. Her main interest is traditional microtonal singing and its unique vocal techniques. The research in the subject led her to travel the Balkans for 30 years now, studying firsthand with the village singers of the oldest generation. Spajić sang with world’s famous traditional singers Hronis Aidonidis, Domna Samiou, Yanka Rupkina, Stella Chiweshe. Svetlana has collaborated and performed in institutions and venues throughout Europe and in the U.S. She leads the Retnik festival and platform in Serbia, which connects traditional performers of the oldest and youngest generations.
Zvonko Trailović is originally from the Romanian village of Osnícea, in the municipality of Bulioț, Zeiceri District, Black Timok Valley, Eastern Serbia. At the age of six, he joined the village folk ensemble, in which his parents were very active—his mother as a dancer and singer, and his father as a dancer. The musicians in this group during the 1980s still played flutes and bagpipes, instruments that have become very rare today. Zvonko traveled to many towns in Timoc as part of folk events, gaining a deeper understanding of the region from an ethno-folkloric perspective. He grew fond of the old songs passed down orally from generation to generation, developing into a highly refined vocalist in terms of dialectal interpretation, while also being a very skilled player of the local shepherd’s flute—an instrument rarely seen today.
A conference pass is required to attend this event. Choose the pass that matches the days and tracks you want to access.