NY Bulgarian Women’s Choir Yasna Voices
Yasna Voices is a diverse, joyful, expansive group of singers, sharing a passion for ensemble harmony, folk traditions and experimentation. Weaving together traditional Bulgarian village style songs with artfully arranged a cappella pieces in the style of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares and spontaneous group improvisation, the ensemble reveals the disarming power and intimacy of the unaccompanied voice. Their interpretations of ancient songs tell timeless tales of sweet or forbidden love, horses and wild mountains, potent wine, pepper planting, the secrets of the moon, and the sun’s falling in love with a beautiful girl and her song.
Using space creatively, Yasna Voices has collaborated with dance and theater ensembles, and multimedia artists, and is equally at home at folk festivals, modern art museums, or community events. Bringing a rich amalgam of individual heritages, Yasna Voiceshas included singers from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, and the USA.
In May 2018, and May 2016Yasna Voicespresented two memorable concerts in Havana, Cuba, in collaboration with the National Choir of Cuba, National Folkloric Choir of Cuba, Children’s Choir Lunita (2018), and BosilekBulgarian Folk Dance Ensemble, and Young Bulgarian Voices New Yorkschool (2016), to celebrate Bulgarian National Day of Literacy, Culture, and the Cyrillic Alphabet, under the patronage of the Bulgarian Embassy in Cuba, and Bulgarian and Cuban Ministries of Culture.
In 2015 Yasna Voices performed in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 2,000 people at the world-renowned Koprivshtitsa Folk Festival, Bulgaria’s premier festival for authentic Bulgarian folklore, held once every five years.
Yasna Voiceshave collaborated with Gorana Dancein The Rose Valley, and Rhythm & Patterns Folk Art, two concerts celebrating Bulgarian folk music and dance, at Manhattan JCC. The ensemble wasfeatured at the Re-Opening Reception of Queens Museum of Art, enjoyed an enthusiastic return to Golden Festival, New York’s vivacious annual celebration of Eastern European folk music and dance, and have been warmly embraced by the Bulgarian community at highlight concerts for Bulgarian National Day and St. Lazarus Day Celebrations.
Bulgarian-born vocalist and composer Vlada Tomova founded and has led the first New York’s Bulgarian Women’s Choir Yasna Voices since 2002. Yasna Voices debuted live in concert with Bulgarian folk luminary vocalist Yanka Rupkina. Yasna Voices traveled to Bulgaria to study with Kremena Stancheva, long time soloist of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares choir, and appeared on Bulgarian TV. Among the group’s many rich experiences are recording an album, puppetry theater collaborations, tour appearances, and a Symphony Space sold-out concert, featuring Kremena Stancheva.
The current edition of the ensemble was assembled under the auspices of the Consul General of Bulgaria in New York. The ensemble supports the development of Bulgarian educational institutions in New York.
To connect further with Yasna Voices and their story visit them at
www.vladatomovamusic.com
You can hear and see Yasna Voices here:
Excerpts from The Rose Valley– at Manhattan JCC (June 2014)
Vlada Tomova’s Bulgarian Women’s Choir A! Capella! Blessing! – Queens Museum Re-opening (Nov 2013)
Audience comments “like the sun came up” and “like going to church” “you bring forward and connect all of the human experience” “I listened completely mesmerized and transported” “Our kids demanded listening to Bulgarian Women’s Choir music the morning after the concert” “it was spirit-lifting when the choir voices suddenly came out and joined the little kids” and “what a great spirit of community did the ensemble create” “how beautiful and authentic the singing sounded!”
“FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for tonight’s concert, it was hypnotic and full of grace.”
Press The Yasna Voices has received multiple press reviews. The group was most recently noted in an article in the largest Bulgarian newspaper in the USA, printed in Chicago: http://www.bulgariasega.com/usa_canada_bulgari/usa-east-coast/20823.html