To start off our 2012 Summer Concerts Season, we are thrilled to welcome the London Bulgarian Choir to The Print Room for the first time.
Led by native Bulgarian singer Dessislava Stefanova, the LBC deliver their unique and thrilling repertoire - exploring the landscapes of the voice and the creative traditions of Bulgaria.
The songs you will hear the London Bulgarian Choir perform are arrangements of traditional and ancient Bulgarian songs. Some tell powerful tales of love and loss, fighting and celebration, while others are inspired by the daily fabric of life.
Bulgarian choral music was first popularised in the West more than 30 years ago with the release of the well-known Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares album, and has been weaving its spine-tingling magic among Western audiences ever since. Dessislava Stefanova (a former singer with the iconic Philip Koutev National Ensemble) founded the London Bulgarian Choir in 2000. The choir has attracted a wide mix of ages and nationalities, who bring their unforgettable Bulgarian sound to British concert halls, churches, galleries, festivals, village squares and even a barge on the Thames.
The choir has toured in Bulgaria twice, won the first ever BBC Radio 3 Open Choir of the Year, performed at Westminster Abbey and was featured as one of Joan Armatrading's Favourite Choirs on BBC Radio 4. There have also been collaborations with rock, jazz and classical musicians, most prominently Doves at the 2009 BBC Electric Proms, and with the English Chamber Orchestra in December 2011. Members of the choir sang on the soundtrack to Troy and the award-winning soundtrack of the BBC's The Virgin Queen. In 2007, the choir released its debut album, Alyana Galyana, and more recently a BBC Choral Ambition grant enabled the choir to commission exclusive new pieces from celebrated Bulgarian composer Kiril Todorov, which form the heart of a new album, Goro Le Goro, launched in November 2011.
"a guaranteed stunning, aural delight" TimeOut