A new video, participation in a big concert with Balkan music and forthcoming performances in Sofia and across the country – this is the main news around Bulgara – perhaps the most popular and loved ethno formation here. The musicians will mark 15 years on stage end-2017. Established as an instrumental band which freely combined Bulgarian folklore with different musical styles – pop, rock, funk etc., today Bulgara boosts its formation and repertoire. Several soloists of the Folk Music Orchestra of the BNR are among the performers – Hristina Beleva (fiddle), Petyo Kostadinov (bagpipe), Kostadin Genchev (shepherd’s flute) and even conductor Dimitar Hristov (tambourine). A big concert at Sofia Live Club on March 2 will present their latest video, as well as a part of the pieces created over the past few years, Kostadin Genchev says and adds:

"We made our first video 10 years ago. It happened that way that the second one appears barely now. I saw it a couple of days ago – it is very interesting, really funny and I was surprised and astonished. I hope that the audience will like and appreciate it. As we all know, the music of Bulgara has always had lots of fire, passion and rhythm. Only good things have happened over the past months. On February 26 we took part in the Balkanitsa concert, held at Hall 1 of the NPC. Splendid brass orchestras participated, mainly from Serbia. The organizers decided they had to include a Bulgarian band at the start, in order to warm up the audience. It was very nice. The fans applauded our renditions. Other club concerts are forthcoming in Sofia and across the country. I can say that the band sees some special boom. Perhaps that is why our latest piece was named Recharging – something like new breeze, new power inside."

"Everybody knows that the Bulgara musicians have different permanent jobs – some of them play in orchestras, others are sound engineers (drummer Kiril Dobrev) or are in the advertising business… We manage to create our music despite our everyday obligations, the care of our children and families. 15 years ago we were the first ones to start with this mixture of folklore, jazz and punk. Perhaps inspired by us, numerous other bands appeared with fine musicians, but those have gradually disappeared with time. I can’t give you the recipe, but I guess it’s just that the right people have gathered together, keeping their friendship alive, playing and having fun together. We feel great when we are together, there is always lots of laughter and energy. Perhaps that is why the viewers will feel this happy nonchalance of music and emotion. I am glad that new performers have brought in new colors into our music. We have played for several years with Eva Perchemlieva – a vocal and percussionist who has brought in new life into the band. She covers famous pop songs that we rearrange with this slight folklore nuance. The fans are having great fun when they hear a bagpipe solo instead of the well-known guitar one in the middle of a piece. Besides the names mentioned, Bulgara also plays with Chavdar Asenov (bass guitar) and Stoyan Pavlov (percussions and davul). We are working on new covers and our own music, so we move onwards the way we think we should do," Kostadin Genchev says in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev