released July 2, 2019

Performers (in order of voice part):
Eugenia Georgieva
Zoe Smith
Alison Stewart
Corissa Nunn
Rachel Meek
Semra Bulut
Megan Drace
Roisin Lindsay

Veda Slovena Bulgarian Choir is a small choir currently based at Battersea Arts Centre in London (formerly at University College London), specialising in Bulgarian sacred and secular music, whose repertoire is rooted in the great collective singing traditions of Bulgaria. Founded in January 2013 by Bulgarian singer Eugenia Georgieva, VSBC were voted Choir of the Day in the Open category of Choir of the Year in 2014, and performed at festivals such as Sangerstevne International Choral Festival, Brandenburg Choral Festival, St Luke's Church - Kingston, Crawley Mela, Chorus Festival at the Purcell Room (Southbank Centre), as well as Voices Now at the legendary Roundhouse (2015 & 2017). They performed live on BBC Radio 3’s The Choir (2016) and collaborated with American country/folk star Willy Mason, reworking his hit We Can Be Strong to include a traditional Shoppe folk song (2018). VSBC are committed to preserving and celebrating this unique and distinctive style of singing outside Bulgaria.
 
Bulgaria famously sits on the crossroad between Europe and Asia, and Bulgarian traditional vocal music is a testimony to that. According to ancient sources Thracian music sounded very Asian; folk singing was later influenced by Syrian Orthodox style through liturgical services in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The use of a “drone” in church singing left its mark on folk harmonisation in the five centuries of Ottoman rule and isolation from Europe (14th – 19th centuries), amalgamating the two main currents of pagan rituals and Christian traditions. 
 
Combining “asymmetrical” time signatures like 7/8, 9/8 and 11/16, non-measured ballads and a unique “open throated” voice production, Bulgarian folk singing is a highly sophisticated and original vocal style capable of transforming daily hardship and historical tragedy into sublime beauty. The mid-twentieth century saw a great development and re-thinking of Bulgarian vocal music – both a cappella and accompanied – by some of the greatest Bulgarian composers, including Filip Kutev, Krassimir Kyurkchiyski and Nicolay Kaufman. Its unusual expressiveness, both ancient and modern, appeals to people worldwide and has become a medium of expression for many non-Bulgarian musicians. Singers of Veda Slovena have come from Russia, Ireland, Chile, USA, UK, Trinidad & Tobago, Bulgaria, Portugal, Sweden, Iran New Zealand and Turkey.


www.eugeniageorgieva.com
www.perunikatrio.com
www.yantramusic.net
soundcloud.com/veda-slovena
www.facebook.com/VedaSlovena