Vaçe Zela was an iconic Albanian singer. She was discovered by chance at a young age in Lushnjë. Vaçe Zela remains the extraordinary voice that filled Albanian stages with energy. She participated in all music festivals on Radio and later on Television, from the first organization in 1962 until 1981.

If there’s an artist whose name is synonymous with music festivals, without a doubt, it’s Vaçe Zela. She was and will remain the greatest singer of our light music. Vaçe Zela grew up and was crowned the queen of Albanian music for over two decades, winning a total of 12 first prizes, an unmatched record for all times. Vaçe Zela was the first winner of the first Festival, with the song “First Child”, in 1962. However, festivals followed one after another, year after year, and Vaçe was always present with her voice. Songs like “The boy and The rain”, “Hiccup”, “I’m 20 today”, ” Waltz of Happiness”, “Midnight”, “Golden tracks”, “Grandmother’s song”, “I want you to be happy”, “I’ll cut my braid”, “Bud in freedom tree”, “Our illegal friends”, etc., have remained in the golden fund of Albanian music.

She was initially appointed as a singer in the Army’s Variety Show, later in the State’s Variety Show, and finally in the Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances. Vaçe Zela was a great interpreter of the beautiful songs of her homeland. Wherever she performed, in cities or villages, or even abroad, she was warmly welcomed for her beautiful and melodious voice. She was called “The Nightingale of Myzeqe” not in vain but quickly became the Nightingale of all Albania because she sang with the same love and passion the songs of all regions of the country. In every well-deserved success that the Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances achieved abroad, in France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland, and beyond, the distinguished singer Vaçe Zela attracted a considerable audience.

The press of these countries highly appreciated her. The transition from folk music to light music was natural. Her repertoire is very rich, including dozens of folk songs, light songs, cantatas, ballads, etc. She also made a significant contribution to film music, interpreting many songs as part of movie soundtracks. A career that was interrupted in 1991, a year that also marked her final appearance on stage, precisely in Switzerland, in a concert for Albanians living there.

Vaçe Zela had extraordinary abilities to grasp and reproduce any melody, even if heard only once on the radio. Vaçe Zela’s presence at a festival, even with a song dedicated to her, when for years, since the first festival, she had been the lady of festivals and Albanian songs, sufficed as a fact for Albanians to feel once again the presence of their “queen”. Vaçe Zela was honored with the title “Great Master of Work”.

She is included in the book of the 500 most influential personalities in the world, the only Albanian to receive this award from the Biographies Institute in America. In Paris, she was compared to Edith Piaf, and in Italy to the great singer, Mina. The awards in her name are countless. “Merited Artist” in 1973, “Artist of the People” in 1977, “Great Master of Work”, “Honorary Citizen of Lushnja”, to the highest award, “Honorary Citizen of the Nation”.

Her songs are constantly sung by younger generations of singers, but they are incomparable with that vocal quality that only Vaçe did possess. Vaçe Zela was honored with the “Golden Disc” in America for “contribution to society in 1997”, was chosen “Woman of the Year ’97-’98” in Cambridge, England, “Golden Microphone” by the Ministry of Culture of Kosovo, etc. Vaçe Zela died in Basel, Switzerland, on February 6, 2014.

/k.s/