Music born on the frontier comes to the Gran Teatro Infinity 1
There is something paradoxical about the fact that one of the artists best able to speak of coexistence and cultural fusion comes from a country ravaged by one of the bloodiest wars in modern European history. Goran Bregović, born in Sarajevo to a Serbian mother and a Croatian father, is the product of three cultures, three nationalities and three religions: a diversity that lies at the heart of all his music.
From Balkan rock star to world music
A self-taught musician and a rebel by nature, Bregović founded the rock band Bijelo Dugme (“White Button”) in the 1970s, a hugely successful group that released over ten albums and left its mark on the history of Yugoslav music. He became the rock star of an entire country, a hero shared across all ethnic and religious boundaries.
The real turning point came in the late 1980s with his collaboration with director Emir Kusturica: he composed the soundtracks for Time of the Gypsies (1989), Arizona Dream (1993) and Underground (1995), as well as those for other directors. In any case, the soundtracks were not created merely to accompany images, but have a life of their own. This is why Bregović can perform them live today without them being perceived as mere ‘film music’.
Shortly before the outbreak of the war in the Balkans, he moved to Paris, where he reinvented himself. This led to the formation of the Wedding and Funeral Orchestra (1997) and marked a new chapter in his international career.
The Wedding and Funeral Orchestra: the sound of a whole world
The ensemble that Bregović has built around himself is unique: a line-up in true ‘turbo-folk’ style, featuring a raucous brass section, bagpipes, a bass drum, and traditional Bulgarian and Romani vocals. The name — Wedding and Funeral Orchestra — is no accident: it encapsulates in two words the extremes of life, those moments when the same music is often played, but with a different attitude.
Bregović loves working with Roma bands because they play worn-out trumpets, difficult to tune, and in that human discord he finds something punk, something touching, something alive. ‘My music was born on the frontier: between Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam. It is music that invites you to dance, but with an underlying sadness that belongs to those who have seen history pass by their homes all too often.’
His extraordinary ability to engage in dialogue with artists from vastly different backgrounds — from Iggy Pop to the Gipsy Kings, from Asaf Avidan to Cesária Évora — has enabled him to build musical bridges between cultures and peoples. This cosmopolitan vocation has earned him prestigious accolades, including the 2025 Tenco Lifetime Achievement Award, sealing a deep and enduring bond with Italy.
His creative journey also encompasses classical and operatic music: an oratorio entitled My Heart Has Become Tolerant on the three monotheistic religions and the first Gypsy opera, Karmen with a Happy End, an ironic homage to Bizet. The album Three Letters from Sarajevo (2017) is perhaps the most accomplished synthesis of his thinking: it unites the three religions of Sarajevo on an allegorical level, using the violin as a metaphorical instrument, with Eastern, klezmer and classical styles performed by soloists from Israel, the Balkans and the Maghreb, and voices singing in Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, English and Serbo-Croatian.
In short, a journey that has taken Bregović from Balkan rock star to a leading figure in world music, transcending race, age and religion. And now, with a new album due out this year, at the age of seventy-five, his music shows no sign of stopping.
The concert in Cremona: 19 April 2026
On Sunday 19 April, Cremona’s Gran Teatro Infinity 1 hosted one of the Italian dates on the 2026 European tour. On stage, Bregović reprised his now-established format: dressed in white, this time in a loose-fitting linen tunic, seated on a chair between Muharem Redžepi on the Goc (a traditional double-sided bass drum worn over the shoulder) and his smartphone, with a Traveler Guitar Pro-Series, he played, sang and conducted his band, comprising nine members in addition to himself.
This was the line-up that accompanied him on stage:
- Bokan Stanković: Prima Tromba
- Dragić Veličković: Seconda Tromba
- Stojan Dimov: Saxofono e Clarinetto
- Aleksandar Rajković: Primo Trombone e Glockenspiel
- Miloš Mihajlović: Secondo Trombone
- Aleksandar Jović: Tuba
- Muharem Redžepi: Goc e voce
- Ludmila Radkova-Trajkova: Voce.
- Daniela Radkova-Aleksandrova: Voce.
The concert opened with a dramatic entrance: some musicians made their way onto the stage directly from the stalls, playing amongst the astonished audience and slowly making their way back towards the stage to thunderous applause. It was an effective way of signalling that the evening would be an immersive experience, a far cry from the static nature of traditional concerts.
The setlist combined the best of his historical repertoire and soundtracks with some unreleased tracks from his forthcoming album. On stage was the sound that has made Bregović famous worldwide: pop and rock rhythms intertwined with Gypsy sounds, Romani folk, and Bulgarian and Georgian songs. That chaotic and irresistible musical cocktail that evokes a Balkan celebration, where weddings and funerals are celebrated with equal exuberance. And irresistible it truly was: some members of the audience abandoned their seats to launch into frenzied dancing at the edge of the stage. The best possible review.
Upcoming tour dates in Italy
Following the six Italian dates in April, the tour moves on to Belgium and then Switzerland, before returning to Italy next summer. These are the three dates currently confirmed:
- 30 June — Carpi (MO) , Re Astolfo square
- 10 July — Vilafranca di Verona (VR), Scaligero Castle
- 11 July— Pordenone, San Valentino Park
Tickets are available on Ticketone and at authorised outlets.
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