Serbian Music in Canada

Immigration to Canada by the peoples of this eastern portion of modern Yugoslavia began in significant numbers after World War II, and by 1986 some 12,970 Serbian-Canadians lived and worked in the industrial areas of southern Ontario. Others lived in Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver. Industry, mining, real estate, and hostelry have been favoured occupations.

In the mid-1970s among Serbian-Canadians music was used mainly for weddings and for dances and picnics sponsored by churches, youth groups, and political organizations. Bands of one or two accordions, electric guitar, and drums played a variety of popular circle dances (kolo), especially šest, žikino, čačak, and malo, as well as popular songs in Serbian and English. Some 10 of these bands have flourished in Canada; and 2 or 3 others, which use only acoustic instruments, including the tamburica (long-necked plucked lute), have catered to the pre-World-War-II generation of immigrants. In the 1970s about 10 folkdance groups (with accordions, electric guitar, and drums) and four choirs served the young people in the Serbian community and exchanged visits with similar groups in the USA. One of the groups, Hajduk Veljko of Toronto, was named the outstanding Serbian group in North America in 1975 by the Serbian Radio Hour broadcast from Detroit, Mich, and by CHIN radio in Toronto.

In 1980 numerous traditional songs, such as bečarac and svatovac, continued to be sung at weddings, and immigrants from Montenegro occasionally performed song dances at weddings. The archives of the Canadian Museum of Civilization have held Serbian folksongs collected in Canada.