What if your national anthem wasn’t tied to a land—but to a melody?
In this episode, we explore “Gelem, Gelem,” the powerful Romani anthem that unites 12 million people across more than 30 countries—without a flag, without borders, and without a nation.

The Romani people (often misnamed as “Gypsies”) have walked for over 1,500 years, migrating from Northern India through Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and all across Europe. Along the way, they carried something more powerful than land: music.

🎶 Discover how Djelem, Djelem was born from a haunting folk melody and the words of a Holocaust survivor, Žarko Jovanović.
🎻 Learn how Romani music shaped genres like flamenco, Balkan brass, Jazz Manouche, and classical violin traditions.
🎬 And explore how cinema—from Time of the Gypsies to Gadjo Dilo—captured the beauty, chaos, and survival of a people defined by sound, not soil.

As a musician and professor at Berklee College of Music, I invite you into the story of an anthem with no country—and a people who turned exile into art.

🛤️ Walk with us — and hear the anthem of no-land.

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