The Embassy of Serbia in cooperation with the Kennedy Centre - Millennium Stage

has pleasure to invite you to the concert

Bilja Krstic and Bistrik Orchestra

The music performed by Bilja Krstic and the Bistrik Orchestra is a blend of traditional ethno music, A Capella songs, and ethno grooves with elements of improvisation and modern music approach. Their aim is to translate folklore into contemporary art. Program

Bilja Krstic has been on the Yugoslav pop scene for a long time. Her stage experience started at a young age in the Chorus of Youth and later, in the 1970s, she was a member of the cult bands Sunflowers and Early Frost.  Finally, she decided to go solo, and her first album was released in 1983.

Furthermore, she released three pop-oriented records, and did music for many theatre shows at Belgrade’s National Theatre. In the meantime, she graduated from the University of Musical Arts, and started to work as a Music Editor on the National Radio Broadcast.

After a successful career in pop music, Ms. Krstic has decided to record material close to her heart ever since her childhood. For more than five years, she patiently collected obscure folk songs from the territory of Kosovo, south Serbia, Macedonia, the Vlach district in east Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The results were the albums Bistrik (2001) and Zapisi (2003).