Maja Bauh recalls a quiet post-concert night with Toše Proeski in Rijeka

Maja Bauh, a woman from Rijeka, has shared a personal memory that captures Toše Proeski’s gentle side: a rainy night after a concert in Trsat when the young star preferred quiet company to fanfare.

Memory from Trsat

Bauh recalls that the story began after Proeski’s show at the Dvorana na Mladost in Trsat and the after-party at the local konoba "Tarsa." Fans were clamouring outside, but Proeski wanted to return to the Hotel Jadran with his manager Ljiljana and conductor Saša, without any celebrity airs — simply tired, modest and polite.

She says they planned a morning trip to Trogir for a Radio Festival, and that she offered to drive him to the hotel because she had just received a new orange Fiat Punto with a glass roof. The weather turned severe: heavy, relentless rain as they drove.

During the ride Proeski reached out and touched her shoulder and asked for a moment of trust. According to Bauh he said: "Majo, can I tell you something, but remember forever that you learned it from me?" He then explained, still serious, that "Biska in Macedonian means pig (a dialectal form)." The two laughed and listened to the Rijeka new-wave rock song "Bombi i bomboni" by Idejni nemiri; Proeski enjoyed a wide palette of music and trivia, she remembers — he liked the Volkswagen Beetle, wanted golden retrievers, and favoured May roses.

When they reached the hotel Proeski joked: "Take a picture of me next to the car, so it will gain in value if you ever sell it." Bauh helped carry luggage upstairs and, at Proeski’s request, they took a spontaneous photo together in the elevator — a selfie, she notes, "a selfie that at the time didn't even exist as a noun." She closes her recollection by saying that every detail from that night remains vivid to her years later.

Stories like this from people who met him privately continue to shape the popular memory of Toše Proeski: a performer admired for his voice who, according to many, was remembered even more for his warmth and humility.

Photo: press material from the event