Boyana is born in Sofia, but went to the USA at a very early age. That was where she received her education and that was where she found the path to music or in her case – the path to New Orleans. Boyana is a drum player who now lives in the Mecca of Jazz, actively working with different formations. She usually comes to Bulgaria on a holiday only, but without missing any options for festival or club concerts.
Over the last holidays here she studied thoroughly Bulgarian folk music and gathered impressions and recordings. She found it as a surprise to realize that despite of having grown up in a different sound environment our folklore brings energy to her and inspiration. In 2014 she collected 9 folk pieces and named the album Mahala /Neighborhood/. “I wanted Bulgarian and Balkan music to sound in New Orleans, as they had never heard it before,” she says.
Accordion player Matthew Schreiber and guitarist Georgi Petrov are the other two in the trio that recorded the music for Mahala. “We provoked great interest among colleagues and the audience. People overseas really like Bulgarian folk music,” Boyana says.
Boyana is also the organizational leader of the One Love Brass Band formation and saxophone player Kyle Cripps is the music director. The band was established recently but it managed to release an album, presented by Boyana to RB. “We play at festivals, in clubs, at private parties etc. In New Orleans there is always this strong demand for music and we can go into different styles,” Boyana says and then presents the band and its new album: (Full interview and music are featured in the audio file)
English version: Zhivko Stanchev
Pieces in the audio:Innerglow band was among the finalists in the 55th edition of the Bulgarian National Radio's contest for new Bulgarian pop and rock music Spring 2024 with their song "Osvoboden". The idea for the song emerged earlier, and realizing that it sounded..
Singer Vyara Pantaleeva welcomes spring and the coming summer with a new song. Beyond 100 Lands is a dreamy fairy tale about the personal journey that each of us takes sooner or later . The mystical is musically hinted at with a light oriental motif,..
Miroslav Ivanov is a guitarist, arranger and composer who is present in many interesting contemporary Bulgarian music bands and projects. He has released three solo albums of instrumental music: "Directions" (2013), "Circus" (2016), and "Little..
For the fourteenth year, chamber music will be played in the medieval church-museums "Sts. Archangels Michael and Gabriel" and "St...
The "Love and Song" project brings together generations of popular Bulgarian artists on stage to perform their hits, spanning various musical styles over..
+359 2 9336 661