Madame Piano, born Ljiljana Rančić, is a Serbian jazz/world music singer and songwriter.
Musical career
Ljiljana Rančić got her classical music education by learning to play violin. In the early 1990s, she started performing as a jazz singer, having her debut performance as a singer singing with actress Ana Sofrenović. In 1993, she won the first place at the Belgrade Spring Festival with the song "Sanjam". She performed on the festivals in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, regularly performing in jazz clubs in her homeland. Her debut recording was Vlada Maričić's composition "Caravan", which she recorded with bass guitarist Dejan Škopelja and percussionist and keyboardist Boris Bunjac, with which she appeared on the 1993 various artistscompilation albumBeogradska džez scena 1993.. After long work, in the autumn of 1997, she released her debut album, entitled Predeli. The album was produced by Madam Piano herself and Dejan Škopelja, at the time her husband and a member of the bandBabe. Predeli featured a mixture of jazz, popular and ethnic music. Beside Madame Piano's own songs, the album featured songs written by Nebojša Zulfikarpašić and Nebojša Kostić, the song "Cvetak žuti", a cover of a song by Loreena McKennitt, a cover of Duke Ellington's song "Caravan", and a cover of Native American song "Niya Niya Ni". The album also featured the song "Galija", which she recorded with the band Orthodox Celts. She appeared on the 1998 Music Festival Budva, performing the song "Moj Jasmine" with flutist Bora Dugić. The song was released on the festival album Budva 98. Her second album, entitled Zemlja čuda, was released in 2001. Unlike Predeli, Zemlja čuda was mostly ethnic music-oriented. The album was produced and arranged, as well as partially written by Boris Krstajić. It featured Bora Dugić and vocalists Franco Masi and Raul Alberto Dias. The song "Eternal Love", a duet with Italian singer Franco Masi became a large hit. Her following album, Priče iz davnina, recorded with ethnic music band Teodulija, was stylistically similar to Zemlja čuda, featuring covers of Serbian traditional songs. The album was arranged and produced by Teodulija, Branko Isaković and Boris Krstajić. The album featured guest appearances by vocalists Ružica Čavić, Marija Mihajlović, Predrag "Cune" Gojković, Oliver Njego, and other musicians. Some of the songs from Priče iz davnina were used in Balkan Novi Pokret theatre group play Vilinsko kolo and Boba Dedić's film Svetlost života. In 2003, Madame Piano retired from the scene. In an interview from December 2011, she stated that she is working on her comeback album.
Other activities
During her presence on the scene, Madame Piano taught jazz singing in the Stanković Musical High School. She currently teaches singing at Belgrade New Academy of Arts and Petar Jelić's school Kulturno sklonište. Madame Piano is also an astrologist. In 2012, under the pseudonym Nia Niačić, she published astrology book Odiseja 2012, which she co-wrote with Aleksandar Imširagić, president of Johan Kepler Institute in Belgrade, and Roy Gillett, the president of Astrological Association of Great Britain.
Personal life
Madame Piano was married to musician Dejan Škopelja, who was a member of the bands U Škripcu and Babe. They have daughter named Luna. She is currently married to Marko Nedeljković. They have a son named Luka. She also started her own music school.
