It was wonderful welcoming back European Union Embassy Open House Day at the Bulgarian Embassy. 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.
Bulgarian Singing Workshop on-line with Stoyka Germanova! Saturday, May 14, 2022, 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT. Stoyka Germanova has been a vocal soloist with the internationally-acclaimed Pirin Folk Ensemble since 1980. A graduate of Bulgaria’s national school for folk music and dance in Shiroka Laka, she has performed throughout Europe, the Far East and the Americas and her voice can be heard on her own and Pirin Ensemble recordings and on TV, in films and in YouTube videos. Stoyka is also dedicated to preserving and popularizing Bulgarian folklore and her repertoire includes many songs that she learned from her mother and grandmother. Participants will learn the parts to the songs, pronunciation and the song’s background, and lyrics will be provided. Class fee: $25 (all proceeds go to the teacher). Paypal to hbg@wold.std.com; Venmo to @Henry-Goldberg-6. Register here. Questions? Email BalkanSinging@gmail.com.
Martenitsi * Pizho and Penda
ЧЕСТИТА БАБА МАРТА! Grandmother March is here! She’s a bit temperamental, of course, but her arrival means that spring is coming. Time to put on your martenitsa to greet the new season – and don’t take it off until you see the first stork – or if there aren’t a lot of storks in your neighborhood, until the first fruit tree blooms. We were happy to welcome spring on Bulgarian Folklor TV with a song about Baba Marta — Grandmother March! Learn more about martenitsa traditions and hear our song about Baba Marta on our video.
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.
“The Mystery of Bulgarian Polyphony – A Concert by Svetoglas” • Saturday, December 18, 2021 • 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. on Zoom! Enjoy this amazing award-winning male vocal quartet – you’ll be glad you did. Click on 
the poster for more information about Svetoglas, registration and payment ($15 – all proceeds go to the performers). Questions? Email BalkanSinging@gmail.com.
Rumpat
Outdoors at Rhizome with Rumpat • October 16, 2021 • 7 p.m. Rhizome, your favorite local venue, is back! Orfeia is joining Rumput, an award-winning ensemble that performs innovative stringband music and shadow theater, often collaborating with artists and composers based in Indonesia. Their performance will include scrolling artwork by Indonesian artists and members of Rumput. Outdoors; masks required. More information is here.
Orfettes at Balkan Chestnut Festival
Fourth Annual Balkan Chestnut Festival 2021 – We Danced, We Sang, We Ate, We Drank. Great music – Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, Szikra, and Orchester Praževica and Orfeia – great food, great weather at bucolic Wyoming Farm. Looking forward to the Fifth Annual!
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! And watch this space — we’re planning to teach songs remotely, too!
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.
TAKOMA PARK ARTS BALKAN JOURNEY We really enjoyed our Balkan journey with a full house of passengers! You sounded great on Gura beli belo platno!
VESELA KOLEDA! We shared Bulgarian holiday music and traditions with a lovely audience in a great setting as part of the 
Holiday Festival at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
ORFEIA IS ON AmazonSmile! You can help Orfeia every time you shop! Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and choose Orfeia as your non-profit organization of choice — up to 0.5% of your purchase price will be donated to us! Please take a second to do this — we need and appreciate your support.![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 