Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

US musician Christiane Karam holds new master class in Sofia

БНР Новини

A few years ago, we introduced you for the first time to Christiane Karam - a jazz and world music vocalist and composer, an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, a fan of ancient musical cultures, among which Bulgarian folklore occupies a special place. Christiane is the founder of the Pletenitsa Choir which brings together Americans, Europeans, people from the Middle East, from the Balkans...

Снимка

Born in Lebanon, she grew up in Beirut during the military conflict, and later later she settled in the United States. She has worked with a number of famous artists. She does not fail to express her respect for Bobby McFerrin, from whom she has learned much of what she is teaching her students now. For the first time she heard Bulgarian folk music as a child and since then she has not stopped searching and studying our songs. Her Bulgarian teacher is the famous folk singer Binka Dobreva from The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices choir.





Over the past few years, Pletenitsa choir has grown and developed. This is no longer just a group of students singing together, but a true musical ensemble with traditions and an interesting repertoire, says Christiane, recalling the history of the group.





Along with her work as a university music professor, choir conductor and organizer of an annual festival, Christiane writes music and constantly carries out her own projects with different musicians. What is her driving force and what is the unifying element among her various paths of professional expression?





Christiane Karam and her Pletenitsa choir are now preparing a new album with Bulgarian and Balkan music.


English Rossitsa Petcova
Photos: Courtesy of Christiane Karam



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

DEEP ZONE Project with a new version of the iconic song "Istina"

DEEP ZONE Project presents "Istina/Truth" – their version of the well-known song by Milena Slavova, which marked the Bulgarian music at the turn of the new millennium. The author of the new arrangement - Dian Savov from DEEP ZONE Project – says that he..

published on 4/10/25 12:30 PM

The Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio visits Sofia for Easter

The Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with artistic director Radosla w S z ul c is among the special guests at the 25th European Music Festival in Sofia . The first performance of the elite ensemble in the..

published on 4/10/25 6:05 AM

“The Rhythm of the Balkans” – a project by the BNR’s Folk Music Orchestra offering a unique blend of traditions

Tamburitsa from Serbia, tsymbaly from Romania, lyra from Crete and bagpipe from Bulgaria – these are the instruments audiences will be able to hear in the 10 th edition of what has proved to be the most successful project of the Bulgarian..

published on 4/6/25 7:30 AM