We love the amazing beauty of our Bulgarian folkolore and we'd like to share it with you. Hundreds of years the songs of the Bulgarians have been performed in the mountains, on the meadows, in the villages and at home, evolving into this unique mix of sounds and rythms. Our interpretations express our passion about these songs. Classical guitar is not a typical bulgarian instrument, yet its warmth and expressivness matches perfectly the natural beauty of the voice. Add to this the traditional kaval and you'll see why we are so happy about our music. We hope you do too! Asen & Milena ---------------------- About the Band Asen&Milena Group started playing music together in 2009, with the aim to unite Bulgarian traditional music with the larger world of classical and jazz. Their performances at festivals both in Bulgaria and abroad have received great responce from the audience and the media. Asen&Milena Group have performed at the International Festival of Classical guitar Ensembles in Plovdiv, the International Classical Guitar Competition in Kjustendil, Bulgaria, Blue Week Festival in Kladovo, Serbia, Bulgarian National Radio, TV Caribrod, etc. They released their first album "The Middle Ground" in June 2011. Milena Karadzhova was born in the Strandzha-Sakar mountains of Bulgaria and grew up with a love for the local folk music. In 2004 she met Asen Marinov and they started playing together; Meanwhile Milena released two solo albums with jazz versions of Bulgarian traditional songs: “Awakening” in 2009, with The Veselin Koychev Quartet, and “Between” in 2010, with arrangements by Rumen Toskov, Hristo Yotsov and Veselin Veselinov - Eko. Keeping the authentic lyrics and the specifics of the local dialects, Milena Karadzhova selects arrangements with a modern sound, which emphasize the strength and the beauty of the original melodies. Asen Marinov is a musician with a classical training, who enjoys experimenting with and mixing different musical genres. A student of Dimitar Doychinov, in 2002 Asen completed his MA degree in classical guitar at the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria. He is a winner of several awards at international guitar festivals. As a soloist and as a member of the EPIKA Guitar Quintet, he has performed in Europe, the USA and Micronesia. Asen Marinov has released 4 albums, playing classical and contemporary music. He has a particular passion for writing new arrangements of traditional Bulgarian music. He teaches classical guitar at South-West University “Neophit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Hristian Georgiev joined Asen&Milena Group in 2009. He is 21 years old. Since 2007 he has been mastering the traditional Bulgarian woodwind instrument, the kaval, with different musicians and teachers, including Georgi Tasev, Shtilian Tihov, Georgi Ivanov, Lyuben Dosev, Ivan Peychev and Nedyalko Nedyalkov. His first appearance on the stage is with with the band Eho, playing Latin and experimental music. In his next projects Hristian Georgiev explores the traditional Bulgarian music, jazz, drum’n’bass, ambient and reggae. He is a co-founder of the ethno music band Oratnitsa and a member of Merudia.