About Martris

Singer-songwriter and artist Marina Trisic Martris was exposed from an early age to a wide spectrum of arts in Serbia, where she grew up. Upon moving to the Nederlands, she has set on the path of studying fine arts and theater, with singing as a major part of her development. The core and inspiration of her vocal expression lie in ethnic musical techniques from the Balkans. With her heartfelt, tender, yet deeply penetrating and vibrant vocal sound, she seeks to express and share, as she likes to say, the deepest intangible layers of her heart and soul. She is “painting” vocally and melodically the intangible messages of her poetic images with her penetrating jet often melancholic voice in new and often surprising ways. In Ballades of the East, she seeks to bridge the cultures of East and West; Redefining the deeper messages of the cultures of Balkan and a heartfelt desire to share and communicate her poetic vocal expression with the cultures of the West.

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"I could not imagine my life without writing songs, singing, and playing music. Song texts and poetry are an inseparable part of me as an artist and as a human being. Through my music and singing, I'm able to connect with the deeper parts of myself and from that place share and connect with the audiences. From very early on in my life I became fascinated with the ethnic music from the Balkan region where I was born and spent the first 20 years of my life. Even though I trained vocally over the years through diverse styles, the melodies that characterize Balkan music left a big mark on my heart, my singing, and my identity as a musician. It’s what I love the most: the sadness and passion of the gypsy Balkan music, the longing and the loss, the sense of upliftment, and the catharsis. The deep connection to nature, the spirit, and the world of mystery and magic that is so present and alive in the culture and the music from the Balkans.  In my music and texts, I draw a lot of inspiration from that place. In the project Ballades of the East, I use the mythology of the Balkan culture as an inspiration and a starting point. The music I write and sing has to do a lot with the way the collective archetypes we carry affect us on a personal level. Our deep intrinsic connection to nature, to Earth, to the spirit, and the dream world. 

With the sound artist and a poet, Sharon Stewart we made a whole series of her poetry and my songs in the project "Origins". With Rudjer Glavurtic, pianist, and composer we created a project and recorded a CD   "Ballades of the East"  that incorporates all those different components. There is a lot of new material that I'm preparing with Sharon Stewart, and a new project Earth Chants coming in 2020/21. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to the moments where time can stand still so that I can dwell within for a while. Without any pressure; just letting things come up. It’s truly important for every artist to make time to connect to that inner well of inspiration. For me, it is the favorite ever-present world where the melodies, words, and sounds are eternally becoming. Moving and playing, getting ready to be shared again with the world around me."