MEFAIL AND ROBERT SAKIP

 Mefail SAKIP - MEFO was born on 17/06/1950 - 08/02/2011 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.

He is coming from a Roma musician family, where his father from early childhood started to teach him to play in different string instruments as Mandolin and Macedonian instrument called Tambura. He was enrolled in the Secondary Musical School “Ilija Nikolovski Luj “, Skopje in the instrumental department for Violin.During his schooling he was also active in different youth folklore assemblies and associations as “Orce Nikolov “, Koco Racin”, ”Vlado Tasevski”, Kosta Abrasevik” and “Tanec” where the Macedonian traditional ethno music and folklore was cherished.

Mefail SAKIP - MEFO in 1967 with his 17 years was employed in the Macedonian Radio Television (MRTV), where he started his professional engagement as a professional musician and artist as solo instrumentalist and First Tambura in the Orchestra for Traditional Instruments (OTI) under Mr. Pece Atanasovski.With his long lasting engagement and successful work as a solo instrumentalist on First Tambura he was also a composer and text writer. He left numerous works for Solo Tambura and composed songs not only for the Macedonian traditional music but also for the Roma music.


He took part in the First Roma Festival “SHUTKA FEST” in 1993, 1994, 1995 as a composer and as a member in the jury commission .He was also Art Director of the VI International Roma Folk Hit of the Roma song and music “FOLK HITI” in 1999. He left behind himself numerous concerts as a soloist  on Tambura with the Orchestra for Traditional Instruments (OTI).

He was also running several seminars as a expert for Tambura in ex Jugoslavija, Republic of Macedonia and abroad . He got numerous awards from the state level but also from European level, one of the most important awards to be highlighted is the Award in Bratislava where Mefail Sakip – Mefo with his virtuosity as a soloist and composer of his work “TOPANSKO ORO” won the First place on Tambura in 1978.In the ’90 Mefail SAKIP – MEFO become as a Head of the Orchestra for Traditional Instruments (OTI) in the Macedonian Radio Television (MRTV) till 08/02/2011, where he was respected for his professionalism, responsibility and for the progress he made for the Macedonian Traditional Music  not only as a instrumentalist on Tambura but also as a composer where he left behind himself many musical  works for the future young generations who are going to cherish the Macedonian Folklore Music in Republic of Macedonia. The family of Mefail Sakip – MEFO is continuing further with the professionalism in Music,  where his son Robert SAKIP inherits his father, who graduated in 2001 as a Violinist from the Faculty for Musical Art in Skopje “Sv. Kiril and Metodij “.

Robert SAKIP won many Awards at the State Competitions for Violin in Macedonia in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. He is leaving and working as a Violinist in several Orchestras in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

    MEFAIL SAKIP -THE FATHER                              ROBERT SAKIP-THE SON
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