Happy New Year from the AANO!
We wish everyone a Healthy, Happy & Prosperous New Year in 2012!
BBC Radio 3 – Explores Albanian Urban Music & Iso-Polyphony in Southern Albania.
Excerpt >
Heading off in the footsteps of folklorist AL Lloyd, Lucy Duran visits Albania to record the little known urban music of a country that was closed to the outside world for almost 50 years.
Lucy attends a garden party in the capital Tirana, where some of the city’s best musicians get together over a glass of the local tipple, raki. She visits the Skanderberg castle in the town of Kruja, where the long standing vocal ensemble The Old Men of Kruja reflect on how life has changed since the fall of communism. Back in Tirana at a bar in the Bloku area, once home to the Party oligarchs but now the party capital of the city, she meets the Folk-Hip Hop group Westside Family, who are bringing traditional music up to date. Finally she heads to the town of Korca in the South of the country to attend a rehearsal of Grupi Lira, a choir that sings the patriotic serenades that are the trademark sound of the most cultured city in Albania.
Listen to both part 1 & 2. Really good stuff!
Part 2- Iso-Polyphony in Southern Albania
Via > BBC
Aureta Thomollari Albanian Blogger/Fashionista was interviewed by Revista Anabel. Who/What is Revista Anabel?.. Read below.
Excerpt >
“Anabel is the first-ever fashion and lifestyle magazine in Albania designed specifically for the Albanian woman and fashion lovers worldwide. It was founded by Dalina Buzi and Geljant Kaleci. Buzi, also the editor-in-chief, is a well known, groundbreaking journalist in Albania with over 10 years of experience in the electronic media and press. Kaleci is currently the most important fashion photographer in the country and sought after by celebrities and political figures.
Before Anabel’s publication, Albanian readers were guided to fashion suggestions that were not applicable to their country or tastes, usually gleaned from online information or publications such as Elle, and Glamour. Albanian magazines would highlight a pair of the season’s must-have Gucci thigh-high boots, for example, as suggested by other fashion magazines. However, these boots were not even sold anywhere in Albania. Such cut-and-paste inaccuracies, while alienating many of the country’s readers, also created a hunger from fashion lovers for a 100% Albanian print product, Thus, Anabel was founded as the first magazine to cater to the needs of the Albanian women. With monthly suggestions of how to dress, where and what to buy, guides on luxury buys and alternate versions for the budget-friendly, as well as creative fashion editorials, Anabel, revolutionized the fashion publication scene. It was also integral in introducing young and aspiring models, make-up artists, and photographers who had no other outlet to showcase their beauty and talent. Anabel promoted a new vision for the Albanian woman, one whose natural beauty, fierce self-confidence and joy for life could finally be showcased.”
To read the entire interview head over Aureta’s Blog.
Or visit Revista Anabel on their Facebook Page or follow them on Twitter.
The AANO has just just launched our official YouTube channel. Be sure to come by and watch some great footage from the Washington Convention.

Join the Albanian American National Organization [Boston Chapter] & the Albanian American Community of Massachusetts as we celebrate the 99th Albanian Independence Day! Sunday November 27, 2011
[Part of the proceeds benefit the AANO Scholarship Fund]
For more complete details & to purchase tickets on-line please visit our Event Page.
All other inquiries please contact:
Boston – Klodjan Pepi – 617.642.6857
Worcester – Frankli Zdruli – 617.678.3305
aanoboston@yahoo.com
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