Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble

The Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble was founded in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in 1954. Under the direction of conductor and composer Kiril Stefanov, who was named artistic director in 1956, the Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble became one of the country's premier vocal ensembles, translating pure folk songs and dances to a more immediately accessible stage format and releasing several albums through the decades. When Bulgarian music became popular in the U.S. following the release of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares in 1988, some of those recordings found an American release, including 1990s The Magical Voices of Bulgaria.