This is my conversation with Gergana Dimitrova. It took place on 2/17/2024 from her home in Bulgaria.

Born into a musical family in Pleven, Northern Bulgaria, Gergana grew up singing, immersed in music, and began playing the gadulka aged 9. She has a master's degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Sofia University.

In 1994 Gergana was selected to join the legendary choir “Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices”, conducted by Professor Dora Hristova, quickly establishing herself as a soloist within the choir.

Gergana has been featured in 3 music films with The Bulgarian National Television, two of which were with her father, folk singer Dimitar Dimitrov. She has also recorded with the prestigious Folk Orchestra at the Bulgarian National Radio on numerous occasions.

In 1996 Gergana co-founded “Eva Quartet” with Sofia Yaneva, Evelina Hristova, Daniela Stoichkova and Milen Ivanov. Performing internationally, they have recorded four albums: Bulgarian Folklore Gifts, 2000; Harmonies, 2002; The Arch, 2011, in collaboration with French composer, Hector Zazou; and Minka, 2021.

In 2002 Gergana initiated her own music project “Belonoga” with Alex Nushev. This project is the culmination of her vast knowledge of traditional Bulgarian music and her deep reverence for folk music from around the globe. Gergana has two solo albums “Through the Eyes of the Sun”, 2013, and “Through the Eyes of the Earth”, 2018, which was 5th place in the Trans World Global charts in March 2019.

Gergana collaborates across a wide spectrum of projects as a singer and composer with her husband Kostadin Genchev, kaval player and composer for The Bulgarian National Radio, including: “Diva Reka”, “Bulgara”, and “Balkan Scientist”.

Gergana has worked with composer, Peter Dundakov, in both film and theatre. In the most recent “Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices” album, "Boocheemish" released by Schubert Music, Gergana collaborated composing the music with Petar Dundakov. As part of this project Gergana dueted and worked closely with Lisa Gerrard.

She was a soloist in "Song of the Winds", a multimedia performance with original compositions by Petar Dundakov, combining classics, opera and folklore.

Gergana’s vocals feature in “Zora” by Joachim Witt, in his album “Rübezahls Rückkehr” released in 2020. Subsequently, producer of this album, Chris Harms, invited Gergana to sing on three "Lord of the Lost" songs on their album "Judas" released in 2021.

A major part of Gergana’s work is teaching, both Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian singers. She teaches and conducts extensively in Bulgaria and internationally. Gergana offers master classes and singing residencies with her new collaboration “Sedenkya”, in partnership with one of her non-Bulgarian students, Anna-Sophia Menato. Gergana is dedicated to creating supportive environments for students from all over the world to interpret, celebrate and pass on the tradition of Bulgarian folklore singing.

She is currently working on an exciting brand new collaboration with original compositions and will be releasing more details about this soon.

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