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Zagore Ensemble

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The history of the Zagore Folk Ensemble started back in 1955. It was established by conductor Panayot Yanev and the first concert was on 5 September 1956. The ancient Zagore area is the heart of Thrace. Today’s Stara Zagora was created more than 8,000 years ago and it suffered a lot over the centuries. The Zagore girls are famous for their rich and beautiful voices, the play of the shepherd’s flutes are magical, along with the ones of gadulkas, the playful sounds of bagpipes too. No doubt the ensemble is one of the town’s cultural landmarks today. It has a lot of awards, it has represented Bulgaria at international festivals in Italy, France, Spain, Holland, Greece, Turkey, Russia etc. The gold medal at the 1961 International Youth Festival was one of the first rewards won. The formation has been granted the 1st Degree Cyril and Methodius Order, the Crystal Lyre 2000 of the Union of Bulgarian Music and Dance Artists, the Award of Stara Zagora etc. In 2010 it got the recognition of the Council of European Cultural and Scientific Community for “high prestige, public recognition and contribution to Bulgarian culture conquered”. Choreographer Vasil Gerlimov has headed the ensemble for over two decades. “There are so many names, related to the forming of Zagore that I cannot list them all. Extraordinary creators have worked for them, the best in the folklore area: choreographers Agripina Voinova, Belcho Stanev, Ivan Todorov and Atanas Atanasov. Famous composers have covered and composed their own works exclusively for the ensemble – Krasimir Kyurkchiiski, Academician Nikolay Kaufman and others.

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