Bulgarian vocalists on tour

Their UK tour brings them to the Brighton Dome on Tuesday, November 1.

Spokeswoman Ilka Schlockermann said: “Formerly known as the Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir, the group was created in Bulgaria by Philip Koutev, aka ‘the father of Bulgarian concert folk music’.

“It was the release of Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares Vol1 in 1986 on British indie label 4AD that brought the choir to the attention of the wider world. The album had first been released in 1975 on Disques Cellier, a small label run by Swiss ethnomusicologist and producer Marcel Cellier who had been working on the project for some 15 years by then.

“In the 80s, Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of 4AD, was introduced to the choir from a third or fourth generation audio cassette lent to him by Peter Murphy, singer from the band Bauhaus. Watts-Russell became entranced by the music and tracked down and licensed the recordings from Cellier.

“Now conducted by Dora Hristova, the Grammy Award-winning ensemble have toured the globe to great acclaim, carving a distinctive voice within the rich heritage of Bulgaria’s folk song.”