I was born in 1950 in the village of Mlamolovo in Bulgaria. My grandfather, Sztoimen, was a famous singer and kemene player (kemene is a type of gadulka). He knew many songs and legends and during the First World War he was sent to the front to strengthen the soldiers’ fighting spirit with his playing. I was 9 years old when he died, but I learned many songs from him. My mother always sings - while cooking, cleaning, working and at family holidays. My uncle played violin at folk gatherings for dancing the horo and racsinica. Every family celebration ended with singing at our place. Everyone sang, that’s why I don’t even remember when I started singing.

I was in first grade when I won first place at the National Children’s Song Competition. They gathered the children with the best voices to form a Children’s Folk Ensemble, which also had dance and instrumental sections. Within in a short time, the Ensemble became known throughout the country and was also invited to perform abroad. I was the soloist for 11 years. The Ensemble gave me more than any music school. When I was 18, I earned the nationally recognized soloist qualification, which permitted me to perform professionally. I graduated from the University of Economical Sciences in Sofia, but I didn’t stop singing in the meantime. I have performed in the largest Bulgarian concert halls on national holidays, but also in mountain villages, at weddings and christenings. When I sing I feel cleansed and uplifted, I see the same thing in the people that I sing for. The magic is hidden perhaps in the incredible simplicity and at the same time ingenuousness of the Bulgarian folk songs. Singing is a wonderful way to express a love for life and people.

I am happy that I have been given such a gift.

In some of the songs on this record my youngest daughter, Valéria, debuts as a singer. With this I pass on to her what I got from my garandparents.

The record label says:
They say that no one is a prophet in his own country, nor do theives steal in their own cities. The beautiful voice of the famous Bulgarian singer, Roza Bancseva, has now been recorded in Hungary, and this is no coincidence. This recording has given Roza - a traditional singer born in a small Bulgarian village, but now living outside of Bulgaria - the rare opportunity to do more than be a representative for the music of one specific region; instead she relives and places before us, 1300 years of national music. This recording is a bouquet of beautiful Bulgarian melodies, a gift to the world from this singer upon her 50th birthday, crowning her long singing career. From playful dance rhythms to slow sad songs, everything treasured in Bulgarian folk music can be found on this record.

Slavia Orkestar was founded by Bulgaria’s most professional and most popular folk musicians. Each of these five musicians is a master of his instrument (gadulka, tambura, tupan, bagpipe, and kaval) who has performed on several hundred recordings and has taken the amazing sound of Bulgarian folk music to many continents on concert tours. Roza chose them to be her accompanying band.

Some well known Hungarian musicians also play on the 16-th and the 17-th cuts of this record. These tunes are the result of a cultural experiment. We brought together Bulgarian and Hungarian folk musicians to play the kind of music that once formed the basis of folk music but has since been lost - improvisation. The goal of our experiment was not to explore common roots in a hazy past, rather to look for a common language in the present. It worked. When one ’side’ started into a melody, the other immediately recognised one of its own melodies and went over into that. You are now holding the result in your hands. Happy listening!