Vlatko Stefanovski - Seir (2014)

Macedonian guitarist/composer Vlatko Stefanovski began playing guitar when he was 11. As a teenager studying English language and literature, he formed Macedonia's biggest rock group, Leb I Sol. The band fused rock, jazz, and traditional Macedonian music, elements that inspired all of Stefanovski's music. He played with the band throughout the '70s and '80s, while also pursuing a solo career. Starting in the late '70s, Stefanovski began scoring animated features like 1979's Cirkus, films like 1985's Smeker, and ballets such as 1989's Zodiac.

After Leb I Sol faded away in the late '80s, Stefanovski focused his efforts on his solo career and on collaborating with other artists and musicians. His solo debut, Cowboys & Indians, was released in 1994 and showcased his diverse, emotional guitar style. 1996's Sarajevo benefited UNICEF's fund for children in need, and 1999's primarily acoustic Krushevo was recorded with Miroslav Tadic, a Macedonian-American guitarist. Stefanovski also plays with the Balkan Impressions, a Balkan-jazz fusion, and continues to score film, theater, and ballet productions, including the score for Gipsy Magic, a 1997 film by Stole Popov that won a Grand Prix at the Montpellier Film Festival in France. ~ Heather Phares