• Clarinetist Ivo Papazov (photo) and his band, playing traditional and composed melodies on modern instruments, helped turn Bulgarian wedding music into white-hot jazz. Start with his older CDs, Balkanology and Orpheus Ascending. Here's sheet music and lyrics for one of his tunes, "Song for Baba Nedelja."
• The Yuri Yunakov Ensemble in New York is led by Yuri, a Bulgarian emigre who played sax with Ivo Papasov.
  • Here's an interview with Yuri Yunakov about his music and Rom culture.
  • And here's Yuri playing Mominsko horo (292KB .wav).
• Boyan Raichev compiled this list of Bulgarian blues and rock bands.
• A directory of Bulgarian folk musicians from their booking agency.
• Another directory of Bulgarian dance ensembles.
• Other performers and ensembles:
  • Bulgari has toured the U.S. several times -- here's a review.
  • Petur Iliev is a talented, energetic dance teacher and drummer living in the U.S.
  • Sredets Bulgarian Folk Music Ensemble.
  • Stranja Folk Ensemble has been performing music from southeastern Bulgaria for more than 35 years and has a CD available.

Music and folklore links

• Bulgarian folklore links from Yves Moreau, a noted Canadian teacher and researcher of Bulgarian dance.
• May It Fill Your Soul, by Tim Rice of UCLA, is the best book in English about Bulgarian music. Here's an interview with Tim from Central Europe Review.
• MusicMoz offers a good Bulgarian music directory.
• The East European Folklife Center sponsors yearly week-long Balkan music camps in the eastern and western U.S. Its e-mail discussion group includes a searchable archive where you can find lyrics for many songs.
• Bob Snider explains the Bulgarian kaval, or end-blown flute.
• A Bulgarian music bibliography from The Infography.
• The city of Plovdiv's online city guide includes this overview of Bulgarian music.
• A short history of Bulgarian folk music by Nikolay Kaufmann, with links to pages on regional styles.
• Pages on Bulgarian music, Bulgarian folk arts and Bulgarian textiles and embroidery from Kalina Ginkulova.
• Balkanfolk's Bulgarian bookstore.
• Rom musicians on zurla and tapan at a St. George's Day celebration in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria: a photo by Stacia Spragg.

Music stores
These are editorial selections, not ads.

• Balkanfolk sells Bulgarian music, costumes, books and folk instruments at reasonable prices and hosts an annual folklore workshop in Bulgaria.
• Check out the pop-folk section at BulgarVoice Music. Slavi Trifonov, a TV host and singer, is popular, as is Nina Nikolina.
• Bulgarian Books offers Bulgarian CDs in many styles and sells folk instruments.
• Amazon has a good selection of Bulgarian folk music, especially female choirs, and Bulgarian Rom music, but is weak on Bulgarian pop.
• Deep Down Productions offers some traditional Bulgarian CDs.
• balCanto lists Bulgarian and other Balkan music, much of it Rom, available elsewhere.

General information

• All About Bulgaria, from Dragomir Radev at Columbia University.
• The CIA's World Factbook on Bulgaria.
• Travel and tourism information from an online travel agency.
• High-quality photos of Bulgaria, mostly of buildings and landscapes, from Mimi.
• News and information from Bulgaria Online.
• A directory of Bulgarian communities in the U.S.
• Seattle BG offers community news and a mailing list for Bulgarians in the Pacific Northwest. It also lists Balkan bands in the area.

Updated 2 January 2003