BULGARIAN FOLK CHOIR
OPEN SESSION 6th JANUARY
After a successful autumn term we will be opening our doors to a limited number of new singers on Monday 6th January at Totnes United Free Church.
We are a new choir built on a passionate love for this music and a desire to make something of beauty and real quality. We get together every Monday night during term time from 6:30pm - 8pm and learn beautiful folk songs from across Bulgaria as well as warm ups, ornaments and vocal technique.
We welcome enthusiastic singers who are confident at tuning and motivated to learn unusual and challenging harmonies. You don’t have to be a music reader to join us, nor to have previous experience with Bulgarian singing but you do have to be curious and keen (and preferably have a sense of humour)! There is no audition required, but beginners and those with less choral experience are invited to join for a six week trial period to see if the choir is a good fit. If you are in any doubt of your abilities but you feel the call - please come along and give it a go anyway. You may surprise yourself...
This is a subscription only choir (not drop-in / ad hoc). The one-off open session on 6th January is £8 on the day. From then on, new singers are invited to sign up for either a half term or full term commitment with payment in advance (subscriptions work out at £8 per session).
If you are ready to register for the open session, or have any questions please reach out via the contact form.
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We looking forward to welcoming you!
COME AND JOIN US
AND DISCOVER MORE ABOUT
THE EXQUISITE WORLD OF BULGARIAN FOLK SINGING.
MY JOURNEY INTO
THE BULGARIAN FOLK TRADITION
Bulgarian folk music is my deepest passion. Since I was a child I have always had a mysterious love for music from Eastern Europe, but when when I first heard the sound of the Bulgarian State Television Female Choir coming down through my headphones back in the spring of 2007, I did not know what had just happened to me.
I was stunned, I was moved to tears; it was a moment unlike any that had come before, and yet I felt that I was being called back home in a way I simply could not explain.
In a remarkable turn of events, only months later I found myself in Los Angeles and invited to sing in the CalArts Bulgarian Choir under the guidance of Fulbright Scholar and Plovdiv Folk Academy alum Kate Conklin. There, over two magical semesters I feasted my senses on choral arrangements of folk songs from all across Bulgaria, and a seed was planted that would mark the beginning of my journey into the rich and diverse world of the Bulgarian folk tradition. On returning to England, to meet my growing desire to delve deeper into the music I decided to base my disseration on “Bulgarian Vocal Technique and Challenges for Non-Native Singers”. The research and interviews connected me with native singers and choral leaders both in Bulgaria and across USA and Europe (including Le Mystere De Voix Bulgares and The London Bulgarian Choir), culminating in a deep appreciation for the sophistication and richness of the tradition.
Alongside in-depth vocal studies with my teacher Kate Conklin, in the years that followed and with the significant support of New York based singer and musical director Vlada Tomova, I have also had the enormous fortune to study advanced vocal works with some of Bulgaria's most highly respected vocal masters in Bulgaria itself - including some of the original singers and soloists of Le Mystere de Voix Bulgares and The Philip Kutev Folklore Ensemble. Each summer since 2022 I have travelled to Bulgaria to study. The most recent trip, in August 2024, I attended a week long masterclass series with Neli Andreeva in the beautiful mountains outside Sofia, which culminated in guest solo and group performances at a neighbouring folk arts festival.
I continue to be a student of this musical tradition and leap at every opportunity I find to deepen my musical understanding, refine my vocal craft and learn more about this amazing culture.
This desire I have to understand; both what it is that makes this music so extraordinary, and, how on earth someone like me could even begin to learn how to sing it, has not waned with more knowledge, but only deepened. The more I learn about the Bulgarian folk tradition, the more I appreciate just how much there is to discover and just how utterly precious and vital it is to preserve.
It is in that spirit that I wish to share some of what I have learned, and to offer others the chance to discover for themselves the utter beauty of this art form. My real desire is that more people out here in rural Devon can share in this delicious music and discover some of the joy I personally feel whenever I am immersed in it!
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I am extremely grateful to all of the extraordinary singers and teachers who I have had the fortune of studying with and who continue to guide my work, and I simply cannot wait to finally share this massive LOVE I have by introducing just a little of this stunning music with others.​
