Goran Bregović — Helsinki

Born in Sarajevo on 22 March 1950 — his father Croat, his mother Serb — Goran Bregović came of age in a multicultural Yugoslavia that would shape the rest of his musical life. He co-founded Bijelo Dugme in 1974, leading one of the most influential rock bands in the former Yugoslavia for fifteen years as guitarist, songwriter and creative force.

After Bijelo Dugme dissolved in 1989, Bregović pivoted to film composition, producing iconic scores for Emir Kusturica’s Time of the Gypsies (1989), Arizona Dream (1993) and Underground (1995), plus Patrice Chéreau’s La Reine Margot (1994) and Pedro Almodóvar’s Kika (1993). Songs like “Ederlezi”, “Kalashnikov” and “In the Deathcar” became shared European memory.

His Wedding & Funeral Orchestra — Balkan brass, strings, Romani and Bulgarian voices, a rock-band core — has played Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. Drawing on “Yugoslav, Bulgarian, Romani, Greek, Romanian, Albanian, Italian, Turkish and Polish themes,” Bregović’s live show remains one of the most joyfully chaotic experiences in contemporary music.