Macedonian Music (KoKi)

The Republic of Macedonia is a landlocked country on the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. It borders Serbia to the north, Albania to the west, Greece to the south, and Bulgaria to the east. As the result of a naming dispute with Greece, in 1993 it was admitted to the United Nations under the provisional name the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and was recognized by the U.S. under it's constitutional name in 2004.

The Republic of Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry, and music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, cinema, and music festivals are held annually.



Macedonian music styles developed under the strong influence of Byzantine church music. The Republic of Macedonia is amongst one of the countries with the most beautiful preserved Byzantine fresco paintings, mainly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several thousands square metres of fresco painting preserved, the major part of which is in very good condition and represent masterworks of the Macedonian School of ecclesiastical painting.



In the Republic of Macedonia the past meets the present. Its age-old architecture and monasteries and churches of exquisite beauty make an interesting contrast to the super modern new architecture. Most of the Macedonian monasteries, built in various periods, and particularly those built between the 11th and 15th–16th centuries, have been completely preserved until today. The Macedonian collection of icons, and in particular the Ohrid ones, are among the most valuable collections in the world today. After the Sinai and the Moscow collection of icons, it is third in importance in Orthodoxy. From a Byzantological aspect, it is unique.



The most important cultural events in the country are the Ohrid Summer festival of classical music and drama, the Struga Poetry evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries in the world, Skopje May Opera Evenings, International Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Jazz festivals in Skopje etc.



A traditional music contest is held every year in October called Makfest in Stip.