Macedonian guitarist/composer Vlatko Stefanovski began playing guitar when he was 11. As a teenager studying English language and literature, he formed Macedonia's biggest rock group, Leb I Sol. The band fused rock, jazz, and traditional Macedonian music, elements that inspired all of Stefanovski's music. He played with the band throughout the '70s and '80s, while also pursuing a solo career. Starting in the late '70s, Stefanovski began scoring animated features like 1979's #Cirkus, films like 1985's #Smeker, and ballets such as 1989's +Zodiac.

After Leb I Sol faded away in the late '80s, Stefanovski focused his efforts on his solo career and on collaborating with other artists and musicians. His solo debut, Cowboys Indians, was released in 1994 and showcased his diverse, emotional guitar style. 1996's Sarajevo benefited UNICEF's fund for children in need, and 1999's primarily acoustic Krushevo was recorded with Miroslav Tadic, a Macedonian-American guitarist. Stefanovski also plays with the Balkan Impressions, a Balkan-jazz fusion, and continues to score film, theater, and ballet productions, including the score for #Gipsy Magic, a 1997 film by Stole Popov that won a Grand Prix at the Montpellier Film Festival in France. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi