Simaku

Parashqevi

Singer · Songwriter · Kavajë, 1966

Parashqevi Simaku
Festival Finalist
Festivali Winner
2
Studio Albums
40+
Years in Music

Story

Born in Kavajë, 1966. Part of the golden generation of Albanian music, before everything changed.

Parashqevi Simaku studied dramaturgy at the High Institute of Arts in Tirana. Her parents cultivated her love for art from childhood, and she began singing young, collaborating with Albania's finest composers.

Through the 1980s she became a defining voice of Festivali i Këngës, winning twice and placing five times. She belonged to an era of Albanian music that would never return.

After 1991, she left for the United States. In Hollywood, she recorded her first English-language album with vocal coach Seth Riggs. A decade later, she released a second album: ten songs in Albanian, for every immigrant who ever missed home.

Parashqevi Simaku, portrait

Career

1982 21st Festivali i Këngës · 2nd place, "Gëzuar shokë" (duet with Lindita Theodhori)
1985 24th Festivali i Këngës · 1st place, "Në moshën e rinisë"
1986 25th Festivali i Këngës · 3rd place, "Një mëngjes"
1988 27th Festivali i Këngës · 1st place, "E duam lumturinë" (Pirro Çako)
1989 28th Festivali i Këngës · 3rd place, "Jetoj"
1991 Emigrates to the United States
1996 Fly in My Temple. Debut English album. Recorded across Hollywood & Baton Rouge. Produced by Bobby Nolfe & Steve Snow.
1996 Guest at the 35th Festivali i Këngës, RTSH. Her last Albanian TV appearance.
2006 Echoes from Iliria. 10 songs in Albanian, for the diaspora.

Lost & Found · 2026

This album was never released.
We're changing that.

In 1996, Parashqevi recorded ten songs in Hollywood. The CD was pressed once, never distributed, and vanished for thirty years. No streaming. No digital copy. Nothing.

An original CD surfaced. It was digitized, restored, and mastered for the first time since recording. We're bringing it to streaming so it can finally be heard.

"You are part of my music around the world."

Discography

Echoes from Iliria

2006 · Albanian language

  1. Pilgrimage
  2. Bridge of Shijak
  3. Spring Will Come
  4. By the Rivers
  5. Love
  6. How Much
  7. South-North
  8. When I'm with You
  9. A Little More
  10. Many

Original CD Booklet

Scanned from the only known surviving copy

CD cover with tribal motif Booklet inner panel with credits and dedication CD back cover in jewel case Lyrics page

"This record is dedicated to Kristen and Zoica Simaku for all their love, devotion, sacrifice and support throughout my years. Mom and Dad, I will never forget how much I love you both."

From the original liner notes, 1996