In thins music feature we bring you folklore music from Moesia, Thrace, Pirin Macedonia, and the Shope regions of Bulgaria. What the singers performing these songs have in common, is that they ahve all ahd their birthdays in February!

Bagpipe player Nikola Atanasov is from the northern village of Ostrets near the city of Targovishte. He was born in a family of talented folk musicians. During his career he performed in the Filip Kutev ensemble, the BNR Folk Orchestra and others. The musician has performed on four continents.

Veska Moskova from the village of Kakrina near Lovech is one of the folklore singers who learned folk songs in their native environment. She learned them from the people in the field, at weddings, and village festivities. Her first recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio date back to the 60s.

One of the most renowned Bulgarian folklore singers from the region of Macedonia is Kostadin Gugov.  He has a very rich repertoire of songs, some of which can be found in the collection of Bulgarian folk songs by the Miladinovi brothers from 1861. As a child Kostadin Gugov was growing with the songs of his mother Yova Trapkopva. When Gugov was 18 years old he started performing together with renowned accordion player Stefan Demirev. Gugov has a great contribution to Bulgarian folklore music.

Singer Stoyanka Boneva was born in the village of Marikostinovo in the Pirin region. She fell in love with folk music as a child and later became part of the BNR Folk Ensemble, where she spent 4 decades. There together with Yanka Rupkina and Eva Georgieva she established the renowned Balgarka Trio. I am proud that I was part of this trio which performed in some of the most prestigious music halls in the world, the singer says.

Bulgarian folk singer Dinka Ruseva is from the region of Thrace. This February she turns 65. Just like many other folk singers she too was raised in a family of musicians. Her father was a shepherd flute player and her grandmother was regarded as the best singer of the village. She started performing songs from the Thracian region when she was 20. In 1980 she made her first recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio.

Donka Koleva is one of the renowned Bulgarian folk singers who graduated from the folklore school in Shiroka Laka and the Music Academy in Plovdiv. During her career she performed in the Sliven choir. The singer has been living in the US since 1996, where she teaches folklore singing and has concerts. Her 10th big tour across the US took place in the past summer.

Clarinet player Ivo Papazov is popular all over the world. The virtuoso musician has had memorable concerts all across the globe and in 2005 he received the BBC Prize for world music.

Singer liliana Galevska is from the Shope region in Western Bulgaria. During her career the singer performed in the Filip Kutev ensemble and the Slavei quartet, staging concerts on four continents. Iliana Galevska has recorded more than 70 songs for the fund of the BNR.

English version: Alexander Markov