Four of Kosovo’s most promising new rock bands performed an outdoor concert in Skopje last August.  They played solid renditions of rock hits as their audience cheered and clapped along.   The concert was not unlike any other you might find on a Friday night anywhere else in the world.

But unlike most other rock concerts, few of the musicians on stage were old enough to drive.  Many were performing rock for the first time, and all of them had just received diplomas from the Mitrovica Rock School.

In the short time since that initial summer program, the Rock School has expanded to offer training in pop and rock music for over sixty young students ranging in age from 12 to 25.  They meet five days a week in two branches of the school, taking advantage of individual and group lessons from some of the city’s best known musicians and using the space for their own rehearsal needs.  Currently, none of the students are charged any tuition fee.

For the school’s organizers—Community Building Mitrovica and Dutch organizations Musicians without Borders, IKV Pax Christi and Fontys Rock Academy—the concert in Skopje was both the culmination of years of effort and the launching of an innovative initiative unlike any other in the Balkans.

But for fifteen year-old guitarist Mladen Murganić, it’s simply “the best school ever.”


The Rock School was conceived in 2002 as a facility that could provide much-needed space, instruments, materials, and educational opportunities for young musicians.  But for years the political realities of life in Mitrovica proved to be a significant obstacle, and the project stalled for lack of a suitable facility.  Finally, eager to make progress towards their original vision of creating a school, Musicians without Borders and IKV Pax Christi proposed last summer’s workshop in Skopje.
 
“Having kept the idea alive so long,” said Wendy Hassler-Forest of Musicians without Borders, “it seemed important to give it this one last chance.”  Twenty young musicians along with instructors from Mitrovica were invited to participate in the five-day workshop.  The students formed bands, chose names, and rehearsed together in anticipation of a culminating concert.   Hassler-Forest credits their enthusiasm with providing the impetus to open branches in Mitrovica.

“Despite all the set-backs, Mitrovica’s historic identity as a music city, the intensity of the tensions and the constant stream of affirmations from Mitrovica musicians kept our faith in the project alive. The Summer School turned out to be the right move at the right time.”

The first branch of the Rock School opened in Mitrovica in October.

“We wanted to build on the enthusiasm of the summer school,” said Edon Ramadani, one of the school’s eight instructors.  Both branches of the school have long and growing waiting lists, but Ramadani envisions an even bigger future.

“It should grow in every aspect.  Space, pupils, teachers: however we can.”

“In a way,” said Hassler-Forest, “We’ve turned it on its head; we’re working towards reconciliation by not focusing on ethnic differences.”
 
Thirteen-year old vocalist Blerta Kosova agrees.  Of the summer school, she said, “I really liked it there, including the fact that we (Albanians) were in the same band with Serbs.  We didn't care because all we wanted to do was make some good music and have some good times together.”
 
“The emphasis,” said instructor Miloš Dražević, “should be on the music.”

Such a sentiment is exactly the kind one would expect from a lifelong rocker, and Dražević is the very definition of that.   The bassist for popular Mitrovica rock band Hosenfefer is the school’s principal organizer for CBM.  He hopes that the Rock School will inspire an alternative to turbofolk, the strongly nationalist amalgam of folk and techno music predominant throughout the Balkans.  But he’s also deeply motivated by the loss of what was once a thriving music scene in his hometown.

Once home to numerous music festivals and some of the region’s most innovative talent, Mitrovica’s music scene now seems indistinguishable from the rest of Kosovo.  DJs provide much of the live entertainment, singers often lip-synch their performances, and musical diversity is limited.

But new festivals in the region are attracting international artists, and the Rock School’s instructors are committed to developing a new generation of young musicians.

Instructor Goran Vučetić, an accomplished guitarist, is clearly delighted by his student’s abilities, pointing out one drummer’s unique technique and another’s rapid progress.  He said, “It’s always better when a lot of bands are playing.” He’s even invited some of the Summer School graduates to perform as opening acts for his own band.

“It was a rock and roll town,” said Dražević, “And it should continue to be.”

For the school’s students, many of whom are too young to remember Mitrovica’s musical past, the school represents an unprecedented opportunity.

“Before this there was no other place to practice,” said fifteen-year old drummer Miloš Kabašić. He now takes full advantage of this newfound resource, rehearsing five days a week with two different bands as well as taking private lessons.  Asked if there’s anything else he’d rather be spending his time on, his response was an emphatic “No.”
 
Student Arber Buqina also takes the lesson of hard work to heart.  “Our teachers told us that we have to work a lot if we want to be somebody.”

Watching Kabašić rehearse in the school’s north branch on a rainy Friday night in December, it’s difficult to believe he’s only been played seriously for a few months.  He pounds through rocking renditions of The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” and Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” with the confidence and skill of someone years his senior.  If these are the results of a few months at Rock School, it’s easy to imagine a musical rebirth taking place in Mitrovica.

Ramadani uses a different word to describe it.

“It’s a revolution,” he said.

An accomplished composer and conductor, Ramadani runs the school’s south branch.  He considers pop and rock vital tools for teaching music since the classical and theoretical pedagogy of standard music schools often discourage aspiring musicians.

“The musical style is already attractive to students.  That’s why methods are important.  This is also a revolution in teaching.”

He credits much of his inspiration to a recent trip the local instructors made to the Dutch Fontys Rock Academy, where they participated in a broad range of workshops on music and the music industry. “But most of all,” added Ramadani, “I wanted to learn about methods of learning. My goal is to make professional and flexible musicians.”

His vision of a musical revolution includes the further development of the school along the lines of their Dutch models, with licensed facilities that produce diplomas as valuable as any other university’s.  “To do this,” he said, “we need to grow.”

Hassler-Forest agrees, adding that the school might make a far-reaching impact on places outside of Kosovo. “I think the school has enough potential to achieve a regional reputation and go on to be an example for similar initiatives.”

The Rock School was recently named the “Best Project of 2008” by a panel of judges from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  A grand opening celebration is scheduled for April 2009.