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biography

‘ When I was sixteen, I left my home and my family in Zagreb, Croatia, almost by accident – I had an opportunity to study in Italy and since then I've been on the move, so sadly I never went back to live at home again.’

After finishing high school in Italy, Andreja has been living in the US and the UK up until her recent move to Ireland.

‘ My background and experiences have been instrumental in shaping my music and lyrics: leaving home at an early age; being a foreigner away from home; being unable to share my language and cultural background with others; experiencing the tragedy and divisions of the Yugoslav war both remotely and first-hand; witnessing the dissolution of the country I grew up in, and with it a large part of my own identity. ’

Andreja’s songs draw from her own life and empathy with others ‘on the outside’, as well as from a fascination with nature’s laws and patterns. Themes have included emigration, displacement, identity and belonging, loneliness and old age, war, transience, hope and aspirations, acceptance of change, and the human struggle and search for meaning.

In terms of her music, she started out in a mandolin band as a kid. She later joined a choir in Italy and performed in Vienna and Budapest. In Chicago, she played traditional Bulgarian music with a group. It was also in Chicago that she began to develop ideas for her first songs.

Andreja has studied guitar and singing at three well-known music schools: the Old Town School in Chicago, and Vocaltech and The Guitar Institute in London.