Young folk singer Ventsislav Penev took up singing in earnest in 2004. The first person to tutor and inspire him was Kostadin Gougov; to this day he sings songs from the repertoire of the renowned singer. Some of them have found their way into the new album Ventsislav is working on, along with five recordings he made for the Bulgarian National Radio with the BNR folk music orchestra.

The new collection of songs Ventsislav will be presenting is almost ready. Along with the other recordings it features songs he has himself composed in the folklore style he loves best. The photographs for the album’s sleeve were made at the museum house of Vele Mitrov (he was an associate of revolutionary Vassil Levski) in one of Sofia’s suburbs. It was there that in 1871, Vassil Levski founded a secret revolutionary committee.

“The photos were made by a young and ambitious photographer – Georgi Alexiev”, Ventsislav says. “The house is more than 200 years old. During the shoot I had the feeling that I was being revisited by the spirit of the past, that I was going back I time. I think the photographs Georgi gave me for my new album turned out really well. I can’t wait for it to be released."

English version: Milena Daynova