TEACHING STAFF ARCHIVE Folk Seminar 2009

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2009

Kaval

Temelko Ivanov was born in the city of Burgas in 1976, and has been playing kaval since he was 12 years old. Temelko attended the Kotel Music High School from 1990 to 1995, after which he was accepted at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. The following year he joined Ensemble Trakia. Temelko completed his degree at the Academy in Conducting Folk Orchestras, and Music Pedagogy. His mentors and teachers were Georgi Penev and Lyuben Dossev. Today, Temelko continues to work at Ensemble Trakia and is mainly focusing on recording music and teaching younger students.

Gaida

Dimcho Dimitrov Enchev (Rhodope gaida) was born in Plovdiv in 1973. He started playing gaida when he was 12 years old. He graduated from the Music High School in Shiroka Lûka, and in 2002, he received his Bachelor's Degree in music pedagogy from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. Since 2005, Dimcho has worked as a gaida player in Ensemble Trakia in Plovdiv. Dimcho has studied with well-known Rhodope gaida players Dafo Trendafilov and Vasil Bebelekov.

Encho Pashov (Thracian gaida) was born in the village of Sinapovo, Strandzha region, in 1951. In 1976, he graduated from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, and from 1976 to 1980, Encho taught gaida at the Academy as a part-time faculty member. At the same time, he was the featured gaida soloist for Ensemble Trakia. Throughout the years, Encho has made multiple recordings with the National Radio in Plovdiv and Sofia. Between 1989 and 2002, he taught young Bulgarians in Moldova to play gaida and kaval. Currently, Encho teaches gaida at the Lyuben Karavelov high school in Plovdiv. He is also an instrument maker, making gaidas and kavals at a small studio in the Old Town, near the Academy in Plovdiv.

Gûdulka

Todor Kirov was born in 1950 in Veliko Tûrnovo, North Bulgaria. In 1976, Todor graduated from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv and was offered a position as a gûdulka teacher, which he still holds. He has taught almost all of the current generation of professional gûdulka players and is a highly distinguished figure in Bulgarian gûdulka playing and teaching. Todor Kirov has thoroughly studied the unique characteristics of his instrument and has published a number of books about how to play gûdulka, including “Evolution of the gûdulka and gûdulka playing in Bulgaria,” “The art of the gûdulka in Dobrudja,” and “Tunes for gûdulka.”

Tambura

Vladimir Vladimirov was born in Stara Zagora, Thrace, in 1975. He graduated as a tambura major from the Filip Kutev Music High School in Kotel. In 2000, he completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. Vladimir began teaching tambura part-time in 2002; he has been working as a teaching assistant at the Academy since 2004.

Tûpan

Mitko Hristov Popov was born in Varna in 1962. He graduated from the Dobri Hristov Music High School in Varna. Since 1985, he has been playing tûpan with Ensemble Trakia in Plovdiv. Mitko has performed in over 20 countries with Ensemble Trakia, as well as with Iglika, Matevski, The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, and the Trakia Choir. His most distinguished appearances include shows at the Olympia Theater in Paris and Le Grand Mix show in Nantes, France.

Violin

Ivan Paskalev began studying music in 1977 and graduated from the Shiroka Lûka Music High school. Since 1985, he has researched and performed Bulgarian and pan-Balkan folk music on his violin. Ivan has played violin with many of Bulgaria’s popular folk bands, including Rhodopi, Plam, and Ivo Papasov’s Trakia, and is a highly respected and sought out musician throughout Bulgaria. In 1997, Ivan took as position as a resident musician at the very successful music company, Payner Music, and has recorded with several other music studios as well. In 2000, Ivan founded and has since been the director of his own band Plovdiv. In 2003, he began teaching Bulgarian music for violin and was a great hit at the 2005 Seminar; we are very pleased to have return again this year.

Accordion

Georgi Zafirov Seymenski was born in 1971 in the city of Lom, Montana region, North Bulgaria. In 1977 he moved with his family to Plovdiv and started studying accordion at a music school for children. When he was in the 4th grade he started learning to play gûdulka. He graduated from the Music High School in Shiroka Lûka in 1990 and is now working towards his bachelor's degree at the Academy of Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv; at both schools he has focused on playing gûdulka. While studying, Georgi has also been working as an accordionist with different music groups. He has toured with the folk group "Lyra" both inside Bulgaria and abroad. He has taught accordion at a folk music workshop in Neuchateau, Belgium. From 1997 to 2008, Georgi was the accordionist for the folk dance ensemble "Iglika".

Clarinet

Nikola Iliev from Konush, in Thrace, is one of the most famous Bulgarian clarinetists. Trained at the Music Academy in Plovdiv, he studied under the well-known Petko Radev, and later received a Master's Dergee in Sofia from the Sofia Conservatory of Music. Founder of Konushenska Grupa, one of the most popular, wedding bands in Bulgaria, he has been playing for weddings and recording studios for over 35 years and has toured extensively throughout Europe and appeared countless times on Bulgarian Television. A master of traditional and modern Bulgarian instrumental folk music, he is one of the founding pioneers of the contemporary wedding band style.

Instrument Program Coordinator: Prof. Lyuben Dossev

Lyuben Dossev was born in Pleven, North Bulgaria, in 1953. Following in the footsteps of his father Tsvetan Dossev, the kaval player for Severnyashki Ensemble, Lyuben started to play the kaval as a small child. As early as the 7th grade, he was recruited by youth folk camps to teach kaval to younger children. After Lyuben graduated from the Pleven Music High School, he moved to Plovdiv to attend the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts. During this time, he was one of the founders of the vocational music high school in the town of Shiroka Lûka in the Rhodope mountains, the first of its kind in Bulgaria. Lyuben received his Bachelor’s degree from the Academy and has been teaching there ever since; he later went on to earn his Doctorate degree, also from the Academy. Lyuben has taught nearly all of the current generation of Bulgaria’s most well-known kaval players and has been a mentor for many young musicians, as well as colleagues at the Academy. In 2004, Lyuben was elected Dean of the Department of Music Folklore, Choreography and Arts, at the Academy. For the past 10 years, he has taught numerous times at folk camps in the U.S. and is proud to be the Program Director for the Bulgarian Folk Music & Dance Seminar again this year.

Late in 2008, he became Bulgaria's first kaval player to achieve full professorship and was elected Vice Rector of the Music Academy.

Singing Classes

Dance Classes

Northwest Bulgaria

Dance group from the village of Lipen, near Montana, Vratsa region, Northwest Bulgaria. Zorka Yakimova, Virgil Drumchev, Rossitsa Georgieva, Hristina Toshkova, Vûrba Yakimova, Nikolai Ivanov and Dimitûr Nikolov were all born in Lipen and live there, working as truck drivers, mechanic, teacher, cook, cleaning woman, and shopkeeper. They range in age from 56 to 65; they have been together in this group since 1974 and have performed at all the Koprivshtitsa Folk Festivals. In 2008, they took part in a major festival at Berkovitsa. They will be accompanied by gûdular (gûdulka player) Asen Asenov from Montana.

Dance Group of Lipen Village

Performing Group of Lipen Village

South Thrace

Dance and song group from the village of Branitsa, Harmanli area, Haskovo region, Thrace. Yana Nedyalkova, Mitra Teneva, Stoina Belkova, Delya Angelova, Penka Ivanova, Nedyalka Gospodinova, Rada Vûlkova, Ruska Pavlova, Maria Marinova and Bisera Angelova were all born in the village and are farm workers there. They range in age from 50 to 64, and some of them have been in the dancing and singing group for 50 years. They have been to all the Koprivshtitsa Folk Festivals and to the Kitna Trakia festival in Haskovo. Most recently, they performed at the festival for East Rhodopi folklore in Krumovgrad. The song-dances they will present are for the holidays of Christmas and Easter and the Kamûk ritual.

Dance and song group from Branitsa Village

Pirin

Emil Traikov was born in 1978 in Petrich, in the Pirin ethnographic region. He graduated from the National Choreography High School in Sofia, and from Southwest University "Neofit Rilski" in Blagoevgrad. He has worked with village groups in Belasitsa, General Todorov, Skrut, and Kavrakirovo in the Petrich region. Emil will be accompanied by two zurnadzhii (zurna players) and a tûpandzhiya (tûpan player) from the same area.

Shopluk

Youth dance group from the village of Aldomirovtsi, near the town of Slivnitsa, Graovo region, Shopluk. This is a group of girls from age 12 to 17, all of whom were born and live in the village. The younger ones study in the village and the older ones in Sofia. They learn the old dances and songs from the ladies who formed a singing group in village in the 1970s. Babin Den (Midwives' Day) and Easter are the most important holidays traditionally celebrated in the village. Folklore groups from Aldomirovtsi have taken part in nearly all the Koprivshtitsa Folk Festivals, and in recent years have performed at the Nishavski horovod festival in Dragoman and the Children's Folk Festival in Smolyan in Bulgaria, as well as at folk festivals in Tsaribrod in Serbia and Krasnogorsk in Russia. The group will be accompanied by a kavaldzhiya (kaval player) and a gaidar (bagpipe player) from the region.

Dance group from Aldomirovtsi Village

Dobrudzha

Angel Rusev Serbezov was born in 1943 in the village of Zhitnitsa, near Dobrich, Dobrudzha. He was a soloist with Ensemble Dobrudzha for many years. Angel has worked with a number of village folklore groups in his area and as a dancer has never lost his connection to his village roots. He is currently working with the folk group in Zhitnitsa.

Survey of Bulgarian Dance

Dances from various Bulgarian regions including review of favorite dances from previous Bulgarian Folk Music & Dance Seminars

Iliana Bozhanova was born into a family of musicians and singers in Galabovo, South Thrace. She graduated from the National School for Art Instructors and later completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Bulgarian Folk Dance and Choreography at Plovdiv’s Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts. At the age of 16, Iliana joined the folk dance ensemble Rûchenitsa in Plovdiv. Through this group, she had the opportunity to perform Bulgarian folk dances in other parts Bulgaria, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Poland, Belgium, Portugal, France, Italy, Holland, and Russia. In 1981, she became choreographer and artistic director of two children’s folk dance ensembles — Radost in the village of Yoakim Gruevo, and the ensemble of the Rosa Dimitrova Orphanage. Since October of 2004, Iliana has been the director and choreographer of Ensemble Voivodintsi, which has 100 dancers and singers who range in age from 5 to 76 years old. Throughout the years, Iliana has also worked with many ensembles in the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the U.S. In the United States, she is also well known as a dance teacher at dozens of folk dance clubs and camps, including EEFC East and West Coast Balkan Music & Dance Camps, Old World Music & Dance, Pinewoods, Mainewoods, Stockton, and others. She has lectured at many colleges and universities around the world. In addition to working as a dance teacher and choreographer, up to 2005, Iliana also worked as an architectural draftsperson. For more information, visit Iliana Bozhanova's web site.

Todor Vasilev Yankov (accordion) was born in 1962 in Plovdiv, but he grew up in the village of Dobralak in the Rhodope Mountains in a large family. His father, Vasil Yankov, was a well-known gaidar in the area. Todor began to play gaida, like his father, and then when he was 10 year old, he took up kaval. Soon after that he became an orphan and had no one to send him to study at Shiroka Lûka Music High School, which had been his dream. When he was 16, he discovered the accordion and began to teach himself to play. For many years he played with the Hisar folk orchestra at different holiday celebrations. He has been the accordionist for the following folk dance ensembles: Rûchenitsa, Hebar, Pûldin and now Voivodintsi. In 1980 he graduated from the Construction Trades High School in Plovdiv, where he studied electrical installation. He currently works as a machine operator in the Plastics division of Liebher Corporation.

Dance Program Coordinator: Iliana Bozhanova, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Dance Program Teacher Assistant and Bulgarian/English Translator: Cathie Springer, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

Bulgarian Language Classes

Catherine Struse Springer was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, USA, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. To support her various artistic endeavors, Cathie has worked as administrative staff at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Wall Street investment banking firms, and various folk arts organizations. She is currently a free-lance gardener, and Editor of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America’s journal Sound Post. A 1981 graduate of the Bulgarian Folk Dance Program at the School for Teachers of Amateur Activities in Plovdiv, Cathie has been Director of the Bosilek Bulgarian Folk Dance Ensemble in New York for over 25 years. Cathie likes to use her language skills (Bulgarian, Norwegian and French, among others) as a way of bringing people together.

Cathie Springer and Iliana Bozhanova of the Folk Seminar staff.

NOTE: 2010 Schedule — subject to change