Yela

I was born in Prijepolje, a small town in southwest Serbia, in 1982. It is hard to say when I showed my interest in music first. Somehow, music has always been there, music has been part of me or I have been part of music. I have sung ever since I can remember. I owe a lot to my father who is a genius, a self-educated rock guitar player because he had a great influence on my musical development in my early childhood (thank you for all records, cassettes and CDs). I graduated at the Primary Music School (piano) in Prijepolje. From the age of 15 to 18, I lived in Belgrade and attended classical singing at the Secondary Music Schools “Mokranjac” and “Stankovic”. I also attended jazz singing at “Stankovic”. I lived in Belgrade until 1999. In 2000, I got selected for the one of the student that would attend the class of famous singer Murk Murphy at the Jazz University in Graz, Austria. I have been living and working in Europe ever since. My respected professors and singers who conveyed their knowledge to me, who have always given me new energy and who I cherish for all that are: Olga Milosevic, Andjelka Obradovic, Ljiljana Rancic, Murk Murphy, Jay Clayton, Laurie Antonioli, Nada Zgur, Fren Lubahn, Casper de Jonge, Jon Hendricks, Bobby McFerrin, Dena Di Rose(my current professor). I have been working with various music bands and I have had contacts with various music streams. I am a member of a jazz cover band "Obsession" that is very successful in Austria. I also work with a fantastic ethno-band “Sandy Lopicic Orchestra” and I have had a chance to stand with this orchestra on big stages and festivals throughout Europe. I took part twice at the famous Austrian Jazz festival Jazz Sommer, in 2004 and in 2005. I had a chance and it was my pleasure to work with extraordinary musicians such as Stjepko Gut, Renato Chicco, Fritz Pauer, Milos Krstic, Lazar Tosic,Milan Nikolic, Steve Wood, Milan Pavkovic, Vladimir Kostadinovic, Milan Simin, Branko Markovic, Sava Miletic,Federico DeVittor, Valentin Czihak, Adam Klemm,Kolja Radenkovic,Aleksandar Cvetkovic,Helmut Stippich,Gernot Strebl,Eddie Luis and others. In my life... it´s all about music!