In one of the important migrations in human history, South Slavs joined millions of southern and eastern Europeans in a risky journey across the Atlantic to North America. Leaving behind overpopulated villages or barren mountain pastures, they sought a new life in the smoky industrial cities and stark mining towns of the United States. This migration began in the last decades of the 19th century and has never really ceased. Though the rate of immigration has fluctuated widely, depending upon conditions in the homeland and the varying needs of America's industries, South Slavs came--and continue to come, often from the same villages as the earlier immigrants and often to the same cities and towns in America.

Like other ethnic or immigrant communities, South Slavs (Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, and Macedonians of Yugoslavia as well as Bulgarians) cherish, nurture, and thoroughly enjoy the musical traditions of their homeland. If you should happen to be in any city with a South Slavic communiy, on almost any weekend of the year, you will more than likely find a variety of ongoing musical events.