Merita Halili (Tirana July 14, 1966)
According to Merita:…I started singing in kindergarten, then in elementary school and then in the eighth grade, thanks to professor Naxhi Korça who engaged me at that time. Later, I started to engage at the Palace of Pioneers in Tirana, where I sang in the choir and as a soloist in all children’s festivals. I was a student of Professor Robert Radoja, Ermelinda Paparisto and Zana Turku. Later, I started studying at the “Jordan Misja” Artistic Lyceum, in canto. Knowing classical music and singing different arias and romances by foreign and Albanian composers gave me another singing culture. During this time, I continued to take lessons from my teacher Ermelinda Paparisto, who was very fond of folk songs and always worked with me very carefully, as she wanted my natural voice to remain intact, without being affected and transformed. Then Merita joined the amateur ensembles, such as “Tirana Ensemble”, “Migjeni”, and the Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances. At the age of 16, she presented the folk songs of Tirana at the Gjirokastra National Folklore Festival in 1983, at a time she was also studying canto at the Artistic High School “Jordan Misja” in Tirana. Over the years, she has performed several recital concerts and many of her music recordings are in the archives of the Albanian Public Radio and Television. Merita’s repertoire includes songs from all Albanian-speaking regions, but mostly from Tirana, and she has released various albums with those songs.
At the end of the 1980s, she took part in the RTSH TV show “Evenings with Folk Music” where she was ranked among the best singers at the national level. After the 1990s, she participated in several important folk music events such as “Europa 90“, “12 vallzime pa një të shtunë”, “Rreth fatit për 12 javë” and “12 në Hollywood” in which she was awarded with the first prize competing with 90 singers from the Albanian diaspora. After 1995, she left for the USA, where she continues her artistic career together with her husband, the well-known musician Raif Hyseni. They have held concerts in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia and in other countries, revealing to the foreign public the talent of Merita Halili and the Albanian spiritual cultural heritage. Her organised performances together with the orchestra conducted by Raif Hyseni on Broadway, Lincoln Center, and several times at the American Library of Congress and at the “Kennedy Center”. Merita and Raif are also engaged with organizing seminars to present Albanian folk music in several important American academies and universities. American newspapers, including the “New York Times”, MPR radio, News 12 TV, Action Bronxon, etc., have written about the merits of Merita Halili. Merita and Raifi are members of the “Traditional Music and Dance Center” of New York. Due to their professional work and dedication, they have managed to transmit the traditional Albanian song and dance to about 3000 local and international students.
For her art, Merita Halili was awarded by the institution of the President of the Republic of Albania with the titles “Ambassador of the Nation” and “Great Master“. Singer Fitene Rexha said that Merita Halili remains a very likable singer for the transparency of her singing. In September 2019, Merita Halili and Raif Hyseni performed in collaboration with TKOB and the Popular Ensemble a recital concert at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana.
TiranaMusic.Net
Database of Albanian Folk Iso-Polyphony
