Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices with Windborne & Glasgow Chamber Choir

The "Voices and Strings" concert program by The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices female choir premiered in June 2023. Collaborating with composer Georgi Andreev and Quarto Quartet, the program includes new compositions and reimagined classics from the choir’s repertoire, such as "Ergen Deda" and "Svatba." Andreev, known for blending Bulgarian folk and classical music, crafted arrangements that align with the choir's polyphonic style. The Quarto Quartet, a renowned Bulgarian ensemble, adds expressive depth to the collaboration. This program marks the choir's first new release since 2018’s "BooCheeMish," featuring Lisa Gerrard. Recently, the choir performed with Jacob Collier and collaborated with artists like Bring Me the Horizon and Bear McCreary.

Internationally acclaimed vocal group Windborne is known for their powerful vocal arrangements showcasing an unrivaled mastery of polyphonic music from diverse cultures. Praised as “the most exciting vocal group in a generation,” Lynn Rowan, Will Rowan, Lauren Breunig, and Jeremy Carter-Gordon educate as they entertain, weaving stories about the music and its traditions. Their latest album, To Warm the Winter Hearth,” set records as the 5th most successful crowdfunded album ever. Windborne also embraces traditional music’s ties to social activism, breathing new life into old songs from movements for people’s rights for the struggles of today.

Tonight’s performance will also feature the premiere of a new choral adaption of Gaelic texts from the Carmina Gadelica, composed by organist Norman Nicholson from Oban and performed by the Glasgow Chamber Choir, conducted by Michael Bawtree. Carmina Gadelica is a collection of Gaelic texts, with English translations, gathered by Alexander Carmichael, who in 1900 published two volumes of his extensive material on many subjects which he had built up over the previous 45 years. After his death in 1912, four further volumes appeared from time to time, ending in 1971.