Skopje, 24 June 2026 (MIA) — Burhan Šaban, one of the most renowned singers of traditional Islamic and Sufi songs in the Balkans, will give a concert of spiritual music at the Philharmonic at 7:30 pm.
“The Skopje concert is a rare opportunity for the Macedonian audience to once again meet an artist whose roots are from Macedonia, and whose work has left a significant mark on the spiritual music scene in the Balkans,” organizers said in a press release.
Burhan Šaban (b. 1970, Skopje) is a hafiz who memorized the Quran by age 14. He continued his musical and spiritual education in Sarajevo, where he gained recognition as a young performer and was nicknamed “Little Hafiz.”
As a soloist with Gazi Husrev-beg’s Madrasa high school choir in Sarajevo, he was part of the first professional recordings of ilahi and qasida, helping popularize contemporary spiritual music in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He has released many albums, including “Skopski ilahi,” “Bosanska djeca,” “Yar Uğruna” and “Ja sam vjetar zaljubljeni.” In 1996, he took part in the London-based humanitarian project “I Have No Cannons That Roar” by Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens).
In 2021, Šaban received the Fra Grgo Martić Award by the Association of Music Composers and Music Performers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for his work preserving and promoting the musical heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
His composition “Selamımı söyle O’na,” recorded with the Hamza choir, was one of the most popular songs in Sarajevo during Ramadan 2024.
The concert is organized by Skopje’s Yunus Emre Institute. Admission is free.
