How I Discovered the Richness of Balkan Music Through Dutch Ears – The Story of Julia Šćepanović

When I arrived in the Netherlands, I didn’t fully understand the interest Western Europeans had in our traditional musical heritage. As a classically trained musician, I had mainly worked with classical music ensembles.

However, as I got to know people here better, I began listening to our music “through their ears”—listening to how they perceive and feel our folk music, and what it evokes for them. It was as if a whole new world opened up to me. Only then did I realize the true richness of it. As people in love often say, “You have to see it through my eyes to understand…” This is exactly what happened to me when I began listening to our music through their ears. That was my new inspiration.” This is how conductor Julia Šćepanović, a graduate of the Music Academy in Belgrade, begins her interview with The Srpska Times.

“A career in music, especially in the performing arts, doesn’t just happen overnight with a bang—you’ve made it! Get ready for a marathon, with the occasional sprint. 🙂

It starts in childhood with intense instrument practice, continues into university, where you multiply your skills and eventually focus entirely on your craft.

My career began at the Belgrade Opera as an assistant conductor, with early work at the Belgrade Philharmonic and other orchestras and choirs. My career later took me to the Netherlands, where I conducted and sang in music theaters, worked with choirs, and served as a guest lecturer at conservatories and the University of Amsterdam. I also taught at a music school and an elementary school, and then, suddenly, I was accepted in Florence for a one-year specialization in orchestral conducting with Maestro C.M. Giulini,” reveals Julia to The Srpska Times.

To achieve this, I had to pass an audition with 75 conductors from across Europe. It was wonderful to hear that they wanted me to conduct the New Year’s Concert 2000 at Teatro Comunale in Florence—could there be anything better?

I want to say, if you’re a performing musician, there’s a good chance you’ll need to embrace a nomadic lifestyle, with significant highs and lows. But in return, you get a magical profession, a passionate joy in what you do, fulfillment, and a new level of enjoyment in life,” Julia emphasizes.

Julia is a pioneer in performing the music of Mokranjac in the Netherlands and, since 2010, has conducted the Amsterdam-based Balkan Women’s Choir.

She says the Dutch have fallen in love with our traditional music.

Julia started her career with the Belgrade Philharmonic, later serving as an assistant conductor at the Belgrade Opera.

I still work on classical music projects, and something curious happens—when I conduct Mozart and other classical composers, they say the ensembles immediately acquire a warm, vibrant tone. It sounds different—almost as if a new energy flows into the piece, as if they sense some exotic ingredient, a kind of magic that I infuse into the music,” says Julia.

I’m sure it has to do with my rather unique Balkan heritage. Since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, Dutch people often ask me:

But where exactly are you from, which republic?

If I have time, I respond: My father was born in Slovenia, his father—my grandfather—is from Brač in Croatia, and his mother is a Serbian from Bosnia. My mother and her entire family are from Macedonia, her mother was of Greek origin, I was raised and educated in Serbia, and my last name, Šćepanović, is one of the most typically Montenegrin surnames… so you tell me—where am I from? Simply—from the Balkans, from Yugoslavia,” Julia replies.

“Don’t forget that we conductors stand with our backs to the audience, facing the musicians on stage. I care deeply about the experience with the audience as well as with my fellow musicians that night.

I’ve heard audience members say they could feel my music ‘through my back,’ even though they couldn’t see my face. That’s a beautiful description.”

When I perform Serbian music with the Dutch and share our culture with them, a real miracle happens! Suddenly, their tones change—they resonate like a Balkan choir and orchestra.

They become joyful, speak louder, and laugh as if they’ve stepped into our world. It’s truly phenomenal and almost amusing! It’s as if they momentarily become us, and I watch with a smile, thinking how happy I am to be part of it,” Julia adds.

Julia tells The Srpska Times that a project is currently underway in the Netherlands, starting on October 29, in which she promotes classical and traditional music from our region.

“The focus is essentially on Serbian traditional music—voice and trumpet. Specifically, it’s about the unique style of Dragačevo trumpet playing and folk singing that has always been of great interest in Western Europe.

The distinct style of playing these brass instruments, and the fascinating singing techniques from our broader region, caught the interest of the Utrecht Fanfare Orchestra and the Balkan Women’s Choir in Amsterdam.

They asked me, as a specialist in Balkan music, to design and lead the concert program Balkan Blaast, after hearing about the Serbian Dragačevo trumpet and Guča Festival in one of my lectures, while they were already familiar with Goran Bregović’s music. This interest turned into a love affair,” says Julia.

Julia notes that the project has also attracted the attention of Dutch cultural foundations, who have been eager to help, for which they are very grateful.

“Their support inspired me, and I decided—I’ll bring them the best musicians to showcase that Balkan and Serbian music are not just Čaje Šukarije, G. Bregović, and DJ Shantel. Behind this lies an entire world, a vast musical heritage with enchanting musical ‘vegetation’ they’ve never heard of,” Julia emphasizes.

“I invited two extraordinary artists from Belgrade who are the ideal choice—Bojana Nikolić and Dragan Ristevski.

Not only are they graduates of music, but they are also among the finest performers and experts in all Balkan styles—from classical to traditional, with all the crossover styles,” Julia concludes.