International Folk Dance Association   of University City presents . . .
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The Kolev Ensemble

Donka and Nikolay Kolev and Friends

in a Bulgarian folk music concert and dance party

Saturday, September 23, 2000 at 7:30 p.m.
Church of the Holy Communion
7401 Delmar Blvd.  (see map)
University City (St. Louis), Missouri

Two years ago we were fortunate to have the Kolev family in a well-received performance and dance party. Now Donka and Nikolay Kolev (shown in photo) will be back again!  Along with them will be two others from among Bulgaria's most highly regarded musicians, Nikolay Doktorov and Milen Slavov.  The Kolevs' repertoire includes music from the Thracian, Rhodope and Pirin folklore regions of Bulgaria.  The evening will start with a concert, after which the ensemble will play sets of music for our Saturday night folk dancing.  Traditional instruments will be played including the gadulka (the traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument; see photo), tambura (a plucked instrument), and kaval (an end-blown flute).

Donka Koleva is an award-winning vocalist in the traditional Bulgarian village style, and also plays keyboard.  She is a native of the village of Tuzla in the Stara Zagora region of Bulgarian Thrace. She graduated from the Musical Folklore High School in Shiroka Luka and performed for three years with the Sliven Folk Dance and Music Ensemble.  She was the director of the Folk Song Chorus of Sopot, has been featured soloist on Bulgarian radio and television, and has participated and received high honors in many singing competitions in Bulgaria and Europe.  In the United States, Donka has been a regular instructor at Balkan music and dance camps, and has been featured at workshops with groups such as Kitka, Planina, and Chubritsa.  Besides being a vocalist prized for her rich, clear, and melodic voice, she is much sought after as a teacher with her strong leadership and careful attention to technique.

Nikolay Kolev is an internationally renowned master of the gadulka, which he plays with magical energy.  A native of Karavelovo in Bulgarian Thrace, he has been playing gadulka since age 10. Since graduating from music school in Shiroka Luka, he has performed professionally, first as soloist of the Sliven Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances.  In 1984 Nikolay founded the orchestra Sopot and also formed the folk wedding band Rozova Dolina ("Rose Valley") which became one of the most sought-after groups in Thrace.  In 1992 he founded the prize-winning ensemble Balkanski Glasove ("Balkan Voices").  Nikolay is also an accomplished composer and an arranger of folk songs.  Well-known singers who have performed his compositions, or have been accompanied by him, include Vulkana Stojanova, Roumen Rodopski, Todor Kazharov, Savka Sarieva, and of course Donka Koleva.  In the United States, Nikolay has taught at the Mendocino and Ramblewood Balkan camps and has acquired an enthusiastic following of private students.  In 1999 he was the first Bulgarian to be recognized by the Slavic Heritage Council of America for his outstanding contributions in music.

Nikolay Doktorov is highly regarded as one of the best players and teachers of the kaval.  He was born and raised in Varna, Bulgaria, on the coast of the Black Sea.  He began studying kaval at age 12, then went on to study at the Folk High School of Music Philip Kutev in Kotel, Bulgaria.  He finished his formal folk music study at the Academy of Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv.  Nikolay has played with the State Folk Ensemble Trakiya in Plovdiv, with the group Pendari in Varna, and toured worldwide.  He has received many prestigious awards, including Gold Medals at the "Festival of 100 Kavals" in Koprivshtitsa, and has played on many recordings and participated in national television and radio shows in Bulgaria.  He has been serving as teacher, lecturer and music conductor of folk music throughout Bulgaria for a number of years, and has also taught at Balkan camps in the United States.

Milen Slavov, playing tambura and accordion, is both a composer and a performer.  Born in Stara Zagora in the Thrace region of Bulgaria, he began playing accordion at the age of seven.  At 13 he was a Gold Medalist for Folk Song Performance at the Koprivshtica National Folk Festival.  He graduated from the Philip Koutev Music School in Kotel, then studied at the Musical Pedagogical Conservatory in Plovdiv.  Slavov is a skilled master of tambura, accordion, and keyboard.  As a teacher of tambura at the Koutev School, Slavov wrote original works designed specifically for his students.  His compositions are still a part of the school's curriculum, and in 1994 the Koutev School honored Slavov by adopting a photograph of him, with singer Zhivka Papancheva, as their official school emblem.

With support from

Private or group lessons in Bulgarian singing, gadulka, tambura, kaval, and gajda can be arranged.  Compact discs featuring the Kolevs will also be available.

For further information please contact John or Barbara Uhlemann at 314-726-5838 (BUhlemann@aol.com), or Marvin Moehle at 618-452-0255 (smurdesh@hotmail.com).  More information on the Kolev tour, as well as music clips, can be found on the Kolevi Tour 2000 page put out by the San Francisco Bay Area folk dancers.

Views and opinions expressed on this page are strictly those of the International Folk Dance Association of University City, which is not sponsored by or otherwise connected with Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.