Boban Markovic was born on the May 6th, 1964, on the day of Saint George – the most important Gypsy festival day of the year – in Vladicin Han (South Serbia). His hometown is a town of 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom are of Roma Gypsy heritage and share a rich musical tradition.
Boban began playing professionally in an orchestra at the age of 16, and he founded his own orchestra at the age of 20 years old. Boban Markovic was then ready to compete at the Guca festival. Boban started to take part in the Guca competition in 1984, succeeding in winning the “first trumpet” in 1988, and has gone on to win 5 more times until his last participation in 2001.
In 1995 Boban received the “Trumpet Maestro Prize”, the most valuable recognition that a brass musician can aim for in the Balkans and in 2006 he was nominated “Ambassador of the Guca Competition,” becoming one of the most important personalities in Balkan brass band music. Boban Markovic has earned a great reputation not only in Serbia, but around the world.
For the young and talented Boban, the doors for an international career were widely opened. The many times awarded film director Emir Kusturica, and the most famous Balkan composer Goran Bregovic, invited him to record the music for the soundtrack of the movies “Underground” and “Arizona Dream.”
Boban’s international career started in 1999. Since then, he and his orchestra which includes his son Marko, have performed all over Europe, the U.S. and Israel.
Marko currently continues to perform as the main soloist and arranger in the Orchestra, has intensely collaborated as a soloist and co-arranger with Shantel on the albums “Disco Partizani” and “Planet Paprika,” and has performed several shows with Shantel’s Bucovina Orchestra.
Since 2006, the Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra has been collaborating with the well-known Italian trumpet player Roy Paci and the American trumpet player Frank London, as part of the “Trumpet Triumph” tour, renewed in 2009 with a new tour schedule.