About World of Sevdah
Mirza Bašić playing Sevdah music on accordion in Barbican Center in London
World of Sevdah
World of Sevdah is a project founded in year 2009 by Mirza Bašić, a Sevdah enthusiast and a musician who plays accordion and piano and every now and then tries to sing some Sevdalinkas.
World of Sevdah aims to be the main Sevdah and Bosnian cultural heritage online resource in English language for the whole world, outlining the most important information about Sevdah, Sevdalinka, its performers, developments, events, history and traditions.
World of Sevdah mission is to preserve and promote Bosnian cultural heritage around the world.
Music performance duet
World of Sevdah is an educational resource and an initiative aimed at promoting Sevdah heritage wherever possible.
Since Sevdalinka is a form of music, what better way to promote it than by performing it in an authentic way?
World of Sevdah encompasses a traditional Sevdalinka performing act made up of Nasiha and Mirza Bašić (mother and son) who have been performing Sevdalinkas for over a decade together.
A mature solo female voice accompanied by a single accordion is one of the most traditional and pure ways to perform Sevdalinkas today.
World of Sevdah is a unique chance to hear Sevdalinkas performed and interpreted in the most appropriate, pure and traditional way.
About the founder
Mirza has had much involvement in Sevdalinka performing at amateur level so far and has an aim of becoming a more professional Sevdalinka performer.
He lead a group of amateur enthusiasts in the past from an ad-hoc fund raising performance at Lambeth Palace, to a grandious finale at Royal Opera House only four years later.
Mirza’s previous Sevdah group also performed at: South Bank Festival (twice), Earl’s Court Festival, Museum of London (twice), Cecil Sharp House, various weddings, a few secondary schools in London, Family Mosaic Housing Association events and various other interesting social and cultural events throughout UK as well as Europe.
However, Mirza’s biggest contribution towards promoting Sevdah heritage so far has been his involvement in Anthony Minghella‘s (Oscar winning director) last ever film ‘Breaking and Entering‘, where Mirza performed the song ‘Kad ja podjoh na Bembašu’ as an accordionist in the band along with his mother Nasiha Bašić and accomplished Bosnian musician and actor Dado Dzihan.
In the scene, close to the end of the film, Oscar winning actress Juliette Binoche sings along with Nasiha Bašić who is in the role of the lead singer in the band.