The pandore (or tamboura in Bulgarian) was in the past widespread across Bulgaria, and today it is typical mostly for the folk music of the Pirin region. Over the second half of the 20th century, it was introduced into folk music orchestras. The musician who proved that the pandore is equal to all other folk instruments with its melodic, harmonic, and technical opportunities was Roumen Sirakov. A performer, composer, and professor, his career is tightly linked to the modernized style of playing the pandore.
Rumen Sirakov was born on October 1, 1951, in the village of Blateshnitza, Western Bulgaria, to the family of folk musicians. His father was a famous Shoppe region singer Pavel Sirakov. “Family tradition took me to music – all members of my family used to play instruments and sing. I love folk music and my pandore – a gentle and moving instrument glorified in songs”, Rumen Sirakov likes to say. 

As performer, Rumen Sirakov had remarkable masters such as Yordan Tsvetkov and Rustem Traikov as his teachers. At the age of 17, he was admitted into the folk music orchestra of the BNR. The main activity of the group was to record performers of various regions and that highly enriched the young musician.
In 1965, the orchestra formed a chamber group – the Strandja group where Rumen Sirakov played with rebec player Mihail Marinov, shepherd’s flute player Stoyan Velichkov and bagpipe player Kostadin Varimezov. Several years later, along with Stoyan Velichkov and Mihail Marinov, Rumen Sirakov set up the famous Thracian Threesome, the band with which he would later record hundreds of dances, melodies, and songs.
In the 1970s, Rumen Sirakov combined the sound of his pandore with that of modern instruments such as the accordion and the clarinet. A very good example in this respect is the Ihtimansko chain dance, with soloists Rumen Sirakov,  Traicho Sinapov – the accordion, and Dimitar Paskov – the clarinet, the recording was made in 1971. 

Along with his performances with the orchestra of the BNR and in chamber formations, in 1978 Rumen Sirakov set up his orchestra Slavia. In the evenings, he worked with this band in a restaurant, and on holidays – he played at weddings. For this orchestra, he composed magnificent dance music in the style of the graovsko chain dance.

Rumen Sirakov’s most valuable achievement probably has been his contribution to the promotion of Bulgarian music abroad. In the 1980s, the Thracian Threesome band and the Bulgarka Vocal Trio set up the Balkana group. Produced by Joe Boyd, it presented Bulgarian folklore across Europe, the US, and Australia. It gave concerts on prestigious stages – the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Kennedy Center in New York, and other venues. During these performances, Rumen Sirakov made contacts with legendary George Harrison, Kate Bush and world-famous guitarist Eric Clapton.
Apart from being a remarkable musician, Rumen was also a great teacher. He was one of the first professors in pandore music in Sofia. Today his students are some of the best pamdore players in the world. As Rumen Sirakov says, his best student is Lyubomir Vladimirov with whom they play together in the folk music orchestra. In the next recording we give you, the student and the master play together in the rachenitza dance from the town of Breznik.

Over half a century of hard work, Rumen Sirakov managed to establish the Bulgarian pandore musical school. To mark his 70th anniversary, Bulgarian musicologist Kostadin Buradjiev wrote a book on the life and career of the great Bulgarian musician. It is entitled “The Master of the Poor Man’s Piano”, as Rumen Sirakov used to call his pandore lovingly. Another assessment of his contribution was the CD produced by Gega New Production house in 2002 with his recordings.

Translated by Rossitsa Petcova