Vedran Smailović

Who is Vedran Smailović?

Vedran Smailović, known as the "Cellist of Sarajevo", is a musician from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a former cellist in the Sarajevo String Quartet.

He played in the Sarajevo Opera, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Symphony Orchestra RTV Sarajevo, and the National Theatre of Sarajevo.

Regularly playing his cello in ruined buildings during the siege of Sarajevo, most notably performing Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor, Smailović caught the imagination of people around the world. In his honour, composer David Wilde wrote a piece for solo cello, The Cellist of Sarajevo, which was recorded by Yo Yo Ma. Paul O'Neill described Smailović's performances as the inspiration for Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 by Savatage and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Folk singer John McCutcheon also penned a song in his honour, In the Streets of Sarajevo.

Canadian author Elizabeth Wellburn worked with Smailović to create the children's book Echoes from the Square. Another Canadian author, Steven Galloway, used Smajlović as a peripheral character in his bestselling 2008 novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo.