Bosnia’s Top Musician Goran Bregović to Help Provide Music Education to Poor Roma Children

Marked by his stand out performances and musical style, Goran Bregović rose to international fame, bringing forth European classical music as well as Balkan and Gypsy rhythms to worldwide popularity. Today, the 63-year old Bosnian top musician wants to give back the success that he earned by embarking in one mission: to help Roma children with musical gifts attain music education.

Saravejo visit

Bregović’s search for talented Roma children began on Tuesday when he visited his birthplace, Saravejo, the capital city of Bosnia, where the biggest Roma populations reside in the neighborhood of Gorica. According to Bregović, the creation of a foundation to give assistance to talented young people in Bosnia is underway. He said he may not be able to give solution to all the problems of the poor Roma people but through his initiative of helping talented children get a formal education in music schools, he will be able to help provide brighter future for the youth.

Gorica Foundation

Bregović has named his foundation “Gorica,” after the suburban neighborhood in Saravejo populated by Roma communities. He starts his fund raising schedule with a concert on December 19 to be held in Saravejo where other famous Bosnian musicians will be featured. The first proceeds from the concert will be used to finance the schooling of Roma students. For a start, the scholarship program will focus on Saravejo residents but Bregović wants to expand it to other localities in Bosnia. Incidentally, Bregović has recently released his newest album titled “Champagne For Gypsies” which he dedicates to Roma.

Education is freedom

For Bregović, education is a form of freedom. He believes that best way to help Roma is to provide them with education so that the people will have freedom to explore more opportunities outside their zones. Notably, almost 100,000 people from the Roma communities are residing in Bosnia, of which a mere 20% of the youth populations attend school. Bregović noted that Roma has a significant part in the culture of Bosnia and it is a pity only a few of its children can afford to attend music schools despite the fact that many of them have extraordinary talents. The famed musician also noted that Roma’s influence in the music industry has traces even in the compositions of famous composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt.

Roma people

The Romani people or simply known as Roma, is an ethnic community that originates from the Indian Subcontinent. They are commonly referred to as Gypsies whose mode of living is characterized by traveling from place to place. With their nomadic lifestyle and free-spirited trait, they have dispersed widely with significant concentration in Europe. For centuries the Gypsies have suffered from prejudices and antipathy and have thus become an impoverished class in Europe. With their marginalized state, most of them have not attended schools, hence illiterate.

Bringing hope and change

Through his Gorica foundation, Goran Bregović who now resides in France and Serbia after leaving Bosnia in 1992, will be bringing hope and change among the Roma people. His endeavor to educate the youth of this Gypsy community is said to be his way of acknowledging the role of gypsy music in his success as a musician. Bregović’s musical repertoire includes much of Balkan music. He has been performing across the globe with his band, the Weddings and Funerals, which he formed in 1997.

Photo Credit: Composer/Musician Goran Bregović