Chestita Nova Godina – Happy New Year!
Tatiana Sarbinska presents a live virtual Bulgarian Singing Workshop with Stoyka Germanova, soloist with the Pirin ensemble, teaching songs from the Pirin, Vardar and Aegean Macedonian regions, Saturday, February 11, 2023, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. EST. You’ll learn melody and drone/harmony parts for several songs. Lyrics will be provided and the background of each song, pronunciation, and ornamentation will be covered. A Zoom recording of the workshop will be made available to all participants (and to those who sign up but cannot attend in real time). Workshop fee: $25 US (all money goes to the teacher). Register at https://tinyurl.com/StoykaFeb2023; pay for the workshop at Paypal hbg@world.std.com or Venmo @Henry-Goldberg-6. Questions? Email BalkanSinging@gmail.com.
SAVE THE DATE – DANIEL AND MILEN ARE BACK FOR ANOTHER LIVE VIRTUAL WORKSHOP! March 11, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. Daniel Spassov and Milen Ivanov (“Dvuglas”) are internationally-renowned performers of traditional Bulgarian music. They have released six albums and given many concerts in Bulgaria and throughout the world, as a duo, as soloists with the Koutev Bulgarian National Ensemble (“Le Mystère des Voix Bulgare”) and with their vocal quartet Svetoglas. Stay tuned for more details!
Sandy Spring Museum Organization-in-Residence Program! We’re honored to have been selected to be part of Sandy Spring
Museum’s first Organization-in-Residence class, together with Sutradhar Institute of Dance and Related Arts. The OIR program offers training and technical support to traditional arts organizations. Great concept and we’re excited about participating.
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oin us for a holiday-themed virtual Carpe Diem Arts Community Sing, December 21, 2022, 6:30 p.m. Carpe Diem’s December sing will feature holiday songs from all over. We’ll be teaching Koleda songs from Bulgaria. Join on Zoom or Facebook Live.
Tatiana on Bulgarian National Television! Check out Tatiana’s September 2022 interview and performance on BNT. You’ll have to brush up on your Bulgarian for the interview, but you can enjoy the songs no matter what!
It was wonderful welcoming back European Union Embassy Open House Day at the Bulgarian Embassy in spring 2022. We hope you came by and got your taste of Bulgaria as we serenaded visitors from the balcony.
Cosmopolitan Journeys – May 1, 2022, 1:00 – 2:30 on Zoom. Join SHIN-DC with the Embassies of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Greece for a program
exploring connections between traditional music from Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia, including Ladino and Romaniote music, with musical illustrations from Spyros Koliavasilis (Greece), Sarah Aroeste (North Macedonia; Ladino) Vedran Boškovski (North Macedonia), Orfeia Vocal Ensemble (Bulgaria), Rosa Vocal Ensemble (Serbia) and Dr. Judith Cohen (Ladino). Free; more information and registration here.
Orfeia, Divi Zheni and Zornitsa
Enjoy our New Year’s Greeting! We greeted the New Year singing Откога се е, мила моя майно льо (Ot koga se, mila moja maino ljo) with Divi Zheni and Zornitsa from Boston – broadcast on Folklor TV in Bulgaria! Watch it here and watch the entire Folklor TV program (lots more music) here.
Rumpat
Outdoors at Rhizome with Rumput • Rhizome, your favorite local venue, is back! Orfeia joined Rumput, an award-winning ensemble that performs innovative stringband music and shadow theater, often collaborating with artists and composers based in Indonesia. Their performance includes scrolling artwork by Indonesian artists and members of Rumput.
Europe Day 2021 – we joined in this international music festival, hosted by Alyssa Milano, with Izgrjala e mesechinka, a traditional Bulgarian song. We’re at 4:04!
Orfeia on TV! Watch our New Year’s greetings on Bulgarian National Television – starting at 46:03 but there’s lots of good music before that. Zornitsa, our “sibling group” from Boston, leads off – and then us! And check out our New Year’s welcome and more music on Bulgaria’s Folklor TV: Orfeia in the beginning, Divi Zheni, our other Boston sibling group, at 18:26, and Zornitsa at 52:45. There’s a bonus – Tanya’s singing at 47:13.
CONGRATULATIONS. TANYA!! In 2020, our incomparable director Tatiana Sarbinska was awarded the Cyril and Methodius Necklace,
Bulgaria’s highest cultural honor, by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, for especially significant contributions to the preservation, development, and popularization of Bulgarian tradition and culture in Bulgaria and around the world. Bravo, Tanya!! Обичаме те — we love you! Check out Tanya on Bulgarian National Television!
ENJOY OUR VIRTUAL MINI-CONCERT ON YOUTUBE! A sample of songs from our upcoming CD!
REMOTE LESSONS WITH TANYA! Works great – Zoom or Skype. Beginners or experienced singers, all ages (kids, too). If you’ve always wanted to learn some of this wonderful music, now’s your chance! Bonus: your vocal technique will improve dramatically. Even if you think you can’t sing, you can – Tanya will get you there. For more information and to contact Tanya, visit her website. And here’s one of Tanya’s recent videos on Bulgarian Folklore TV.![tatiana_portrait_4[1]](https://orfeia.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/tatiana_portrait_41.jpg)
A NEW BULGARIAN MUSIC FAN! Ansu emailed us, “Your performance at the Embassy of Bulgaria for #EUOpenHouse was entrancing. I especially liked your explanation of dissonance and rhythm in the Bulgarian folk compositions, that helped us appreciate what we were hearing even more. I loved the slightly eastern-tonality of your pieces. I look forward to attending more performances. People literally stopped in their tracks on the street to listen to you…outstanding harmonies and unusual, stimulating sound. Great job you all! I posted about you on Twitter.” Thanks!!
Orfeia 