In the last few years we have more and more often started to associate the name of Bilyana Tchokoeva-Angelova with the beautiful videos to her beautiful songs. The performers who present them are among the most famous and beloved Bulgarian singers - Margarita Hranova, Mariana Popova, Miro ... In these aesthetic videos the message invested in the music and lyrics created by her finds its "reading" in the silent play of truly exceptional actors - Koyna Ruseva, Stefka Yanorova, and others who tell human stories and recreate emotional states.

Bilyana works as a producer at the Bulgarian National Radio. She graduated from the Music School in Ruse and the National Music Academy in Sofia in a pedagogical and theoretical profile. She  also has a degree in piano and music theory from the Royal College of Music in London. She has been writing poetry and composing since she was a child, but she never imagined that this would become such a fascinating vocation for her. Especially when she was separated from music for a long time - she lost her parents early, then literally sank into the occupation of caring for her two children and all sorts of life problems. To overcome the crisis, she turned to a psychologist who advised her to try writing songs for her children. Gradually, this occupation fascinated her more and more and opened up a whole new world to her.

"The biggest excitement was with the performance of my first song. At that time I thought that my life depended on finding the right singer and she could recreate the song as I imagined it, and this really happened with Hristina Zhivkova. She has a magical voice and a soul that comes out in crystal detail when she sings. Her performance is always colourful, vivid, touching, very much in line with my attitude”.

In the beginning, Bilyana did not have many contacts in these circles, but gradually she met people who supported her. Among them is Emil Boyadzhiev who arranges her songs and supports her in every way. "Margarita Hranova agreed to perform two of my songs, they turned out even better than I dreamed of," recalls Bilyana, who continues to write songs for children, as well:

"Children's songs give me life-affirming energy, the opportunity to be that part of myself that has kept the faith, the pureness, the goodness. I also love the contacts with the children, the performance itself. I am very happy that there is such a format as the Children's "Melody of the Year". This has been one of my main inspirations for several years now. The level and the choice of authors, the whole organization that  Nadia Boteva and her team take care of, all this leads to a very beautiful result. The event attracts in its annual editions over 130 children, participants in various formations. It is always full of purity, joy, inspiration”.

Bilyana met the producer Igor Markovski in 2018. This meeting leads to a wonderful creative collaboration. Their first joint project is "Navisoko" - a song performed by Miro and Koyna Ruseva, and the video, directed by Vasil Stefanov and Stefi Nikolova (with whom he works to this day), is really impressive.

Bilyana often shares her poetry on social networks. Her verses are unusual, tender and touching. She also shares her music, but beyond that she is not very good at promoting her work. "I can't handle the organizational part at all, I have left everything to Igor Markovski, who has talent in this regard as well. This is how the songs reach a wider range in different spaces,” she says and continues:

"Igor's direction to revive valuable music and vision has a precious potential. I am grateful that we are separated from the general sound mass that floods the space, often with lower criteria. There are several types of art in these short film stories. I think this is a way to act in these dark times - on a deeper, brighter and more virtuous level, to think about one's mission in life, not just to look at music as a consumer. It is important for people to encounter beautiful things that provoke and inspire them to create and contribute something beautiful to this world. That's why I don't look at what I receive anymore - rewards, feedback… I really want to express my gratitude to God in some beautiful way for what He has given me – this is the most meaningful thing for me. "

As for the connection with classical music - Bilyana's first love, we will hear it in the timbre of the Stradivarius violin (from 1710) in the hands of Svetlin Rusev, who plays in two of her songs. Like the piano, under the fingers of another world-famous Bulgarian musician - Lyudmil Angelov. Bilyana is happy that both of her children also are involved in music - both in terms of musical activities and as spiritual values.

English version Rositsa Petkova