ALIEV BLEH ORKESTAR - PORTRAIT

The Aliev Bleh Orkestar are based in Winterthur (Switzerland) and were founded in 2005 by Marem Aliev and his son Nehrun Aliev. As the name suggests, the band is a brass band.

Marem Aliev is originally from the Turkish-speaking quarter of Radovis, a town in southeast Macedonia. In addition to his main instruments of saxophone and clarinet, the multi-instrumentalist also plays old Macedonian instruments such as the gadia (bagpipes), kaval (shepherd’s flute), zurna (conical oboe) and tapan (bass drum). He is a gifted singer, too, who likes to take the mic at concerts. At the tender age of seven, Marem Aliev accompanied the group “Aca Karamanov” as a soloist on a concert tour throughout Europe. In his homeland of Macedonia, he has played with various bands and orchestras and since 1994, belongs to the Swiss-based oriental-gypsy group SSASSA. Marem Aliev has been living with his family in Switzerland since 2003.

Marem’s son Nehrun is following closely in his father’s footsteps as far as musicality and virtuosity are concerned. In addition to his main instrument of clarinet, he masters an almost endless number of instruments: piano, accordion, kaval, darabuka, tapan... Nehrun picked up his first instrument when he was four and began attending the music school in Bitola in his former homeland of Macedonia when he was 15. After moving with his family to Switzerland, he first studied at the former conservatoire in Winterthur and later at Zurich University of the Arts where he successfully completed his Masters in music education/clarinet in 2010. Apart from his involvement with the Aliev Bleh Orkestar, he is also active, like his father, in the SSASSA group and works on the side as a school music teacher and clarinet teacher.

The band consists of 9 musicians known for their live performances. Their debut album “Svirime” was released in 2009. The CD can be ordered through the band’s online shop.

Members:

Marem Aliev

Nerhun Aliev

Alban Lachenmeier

Adrian Borgula

Valentin Rabitsch

Simon Egger

Marc Bänteli

Usein Amedov

Kemal Saliov

Web:

www.aliev.ch