Emina zecaj biography for kids

Bosnian singer (1929–2020)

Emina Zečaj (néeAhmedhodžić; 17 March 1929 – 19 April 2020)^[1] was a Bosnian interpreter of the traditional folk music, sevdalinka.^[2]

Zečaj was called an "icon of traditional Bosnian music" by American Billboard magazine in 2004.^[3]

Early life

Emina was born in Sarajevo's Old Town, in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina on 17 March 1929.

She was the daughter of Avdija Ahmedhodžić and his wife Melća.^[4]

Career

Professor Cvjetko Rihtman, an ethnomusicologist, discovered her in the early 1960s. Following persuasion from her friends, Emina auditioned before two well-known professors, Zvonimir Nevžela and Beluš Jungić, with the folk songs Kad se jangin iz sokaka pomoli and Poranila na vodicu Zlata.

Ten days later she received a phone call from Ismet Alajbegović Šerbo informing her that she had been accepted into Radio Sarajevo, beating out 30 other contestants.^[5][6