YARÁKÄ (Italy)

Yarákä is a trio from Taranto that has been creating an authentic blend of South Italian tradition, Mediterranean melodies, and African and Amazonian rhythms since 2015. The band’s name originates from the Tupi-Guarani language and symbolizes the four natural elements. Their music transcends genre boundaries, exploring ancient rituals, primordial connections between humanity and nature, and the universal language of music. Each composition represents a ritual of its own, joining the earthly and the spiritual.

The band consists of Gianni Sciambarruto (berimbau, guitar, saz, vocals), Virginia Pavone (vocals, harmonic kora flute, shamanic tambourine), and Simone Carrino (tambourines, vocals).

Their album Curannera was inspired by the traditional female healer from Southern Italy and Latin America, a symbol of the connection between humanity, nature, and spirituality. Through the Taranto dialect and the rich cultural heritage of Southern Italy, Yarákä brings stories of liberation, ancestral memory, and reconnecting with primal values.

Released in 2023 on the Zero Nove Nove label, Curannera reached #4 on the World Music Charts Europe, won the Folkest 2023 award, and attracted the attention of Songlines magazine and Rai Radio 3. The band has performed across Europe and Asia, including festivals such as Bali Spirit Festival, FITS Sibiu, and Flanders Festival Ghent, and showcased at IKF Freiburg, WOMEX, and PIN Music Conference in 2025.

TRANSMIssION (North Macedonia)

TRANSMIssION is an original project by Macedonian percussionist and composer Ace Petrov, built on the meeting point of traditional Balkan music and contemporary jazz expression. At its center is the goč (tapan)—an ancient drum whose rhythms have shaped the musical tradition of the Balkans and the Middle East for centuries. Starting from that sound, Petrov develops music that connects folkloric heritage with improvisation and a contemporary compositional approach.

Alongside Ace Petrov on drums and goč, the concert features Tanja Tzarovska, a singer and songwriter recognized for her collaborations with film composers James Horner, Gabriel Yared, and John Debney, as well as her unique vocal expression bridging traditional and modern music.

The quartet also features guitarist Filip Dinev, whose original work and performance navigate between contemporary jazz, improvised music, and Balkan tradition, as well as double bassist and composer Dine Doneff, a longtime fixture on the European jazz scene known for projects combining jazz, world music, and Balkan tradition.

The TRANSMIssION concert brings original music where complex Balkan rhythms, improvisation, and modern sound intertwine, opening up space for dialogue between tradition and new musical poetics.

DUNJALUK (Croatia)

Dunjaluk consists of singer Dunja Bahtijarević and guitarist Luka Čapeta, who focus on contemporary reinterpretations of songs from the Bosnian sevdah tradition. Dunjaluk seeks what is universal in tradition—that which still resonates strongly today—and translates it into a modern musical expression. Their sound represents an abstraction of sevdah, imbued with diverse musical influences ranging from noise and punk to jazz and classical techniques. Sevdah has continuously evolved over the centuries, and Dunjaluk seeks to explore and utilize that very space open to change.

Dunja Bahtijarević moved to Croatia as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her creative work focuses on traditional songs and discovering new contexts that can breathe fresh life into them, continuously exploring her roots while connecting past, present, and future.

Luka Čapeta composes and produces music for contemporary dance, theater, and film, having performed with numerous bands and original projects. His musical expression is rooted in electronic, ambient, jazz, and classical music, while constantly pushing sound boundaries through experiments with traditional and world music, noise, and avant-garde aesthetics.

IGRALOM x ORKESTAR BOGDAN NIKOLIĆ DONJA (Serbia)

Igralom is a trio formed in Niš whose members currently live in Zagreb, Belgrade, and Kragujevac. The band consists of Dimitrije Simović (bass, vocals), Mladen Marjanović (guitar, oud, backing vocals), and Ivan Cvetković Ivši (drums). Over the past decade, they have built a signature sound across three studio albums—Pogrešna poznanstva (2016), Sunovrat (2018), and Premalim stvarima (2023)—pushing the boundaries between alternative rock, desert blues, psychedelia, and the sound of the southern Balkans.

To mark ten years of work, the band initiated a collaboration in 2025 with Orkestar Bogdana Nikolića Donja from Grdelica and Vlasotince. Their premiere performance took place at the Nišville Jazz Festival, where the concert was recorded and released as the live album Igralom x Orkestar Bogdan Nikolić Donja – Nišville Live 2025 on the Pop Depresija label. The project subsequently continued through performances at festivals and conferences such as Changeover, Kontakt, and TamTam.

In this expanded lineup, the trumpets are not a guest element, but an equal component of the band. Igralom’s familiar songs receive new arrangements and a fresh dynamic where the raw energy of the trio meets the sound of Southern Serbia. The result is not merely a merger of two different ensembles, but a new band and a new chapter in Igralom’s evolution, which will soon be complemented by new original material.

They come to ESTAM with a concert representing this exact new phase—a performance that has already drawn the attention of regional audiences and critics alike, demonstrating how far an idea can go when musical traditions do not collide, but naturally build upon one another.