Not sure how many people here will be familiar with Esma (maybe Svetonio knows of her) - she was a Macedonian Romany singer and wife of Stevo Teodosievski with whom she adopted scores of children and raised them to be musicians in the Balkan Romany tradition. She was a passionate promoter of Romany and Macedonian culture and her death will surely bring that country to a standstill.
I saw her as part of the Gypsy Caravan concert series in New York a few years back and she was absolutely electrifying on-stage - one highlight being when she covered her head with a scarf and sang a heart-stopping song of the Porraimos - the Romany word for the Holocaust.
Gonna miss that amazing voice and passion - latcho drom Esma!
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