PARTINGS

Imagine, for a moment, that you live in Macedonia during the early 1900s. You are a young, strong man who has just found the love of your life, the person you will marry. To do so, you first need to go thousands of miles away and work as hard as you can to earn enough savings to last you a lifetime back home. Imagine also, that just as soon as you marry, you have to leave your bride behind to secure a safe life for her and the children to come. You stay away for years, and when you come back nothing is the same.

For thousands of men of Macedonia, this life was reality, and Partings tells their stories through the musical interpretations of some of the world’s best contemporary musicians.

Produced by the Macedonian Arts Council (MAC) and published by Kukuzel Inc, Partings celebrates these temporary immigrants. Each of the 11 songs originated in Macedonian folklore, but have now been reimagined by composers and performers hailing from countries like India, Wales, Germany and Ecuador. Many of these artists chose to include instruments from their native land, melding Macedonian musical culture into their own.