About the Bisserov Sisters

    (listen to their music)

The Bisserov Sisters (Lyubimka, Neda , and Mitra Bisserova) first appeared before the public in 1978, when they won a national competition. The sisters have been singing together since childhood, and forming the trio was a natural continuation! The sisters grew up in the mountain village of Pirin, which even today preserves its traditional lifestyle.

Gifted with fine voices and musical memory, they have adopted a lot of songs from their mother and grandmother as well as from the local repertoire. Their songs are varied, reflecting domestic family life, harvesting and hoeing, love and weddings, holiday celebrations and religious feasts, and even comic songs. Since becoming a performing group, The Bisserov Sisters have also included in their repertoire songs from elsewhere in the region of Pirin, as well as songs from other folk regions of Bulgaria. They accompany their songs using instruments typical of their region: Lyubimka on pandore, Mitra on mandoline, and Neda on tamborine. Mitra arranges many of their songs. During this concert tour they will be joined by 3 excellent musicians from Bulgaria playing traditional instruments.

The trio's expressive singing style is primitive and rich in ornaments, with rhythmic and melodic variations and the whoops of indefinite pitch peculiar to Bulgarian singing. Two-part singing is a distinguishing mark of the Pirin folk musical dialect. One singer takes the lead with the melody and the whoops, while the other two add a dissonant harmony based on the first (fa) or second (sol) tone of the scale.

For many years the trio polished their ensemble singing as members of "Filip Koutev,"the National Folk Ensemble. As part of this ensemble, the sisters learned songs from all around Bulgaria, and started singing a capella songs arranged by famous Bulgarian composers. The Bisserov Sisters have been active performers in concerts, radio and TV appearances, and at festivals, touring throughout Europe and in many countries worldwide. They have made numerous recordings, accompanied by traditional Bulgarian instruments such as bagpipe, kaval (flute), gadulka (similar to the violin); one, two or more tamburas typical for the Pirin region, and drums such as tapan or tarambuka. They have recorded more than five hundred songs, a gift for future generations.

The sisters' children have learned this rich repertoire as well. Lyubimka's son Manol is a tambura player, and his brother Rossen plays drum and sings. Mitra's daughters Vera and Rossitsa are play tambura and sing. Neda's daughter Gergana is a singer. A special visual treat at the ensemble's concerts, aside from the fine music and spirited dancing, is seeing the ensemble's handmade traditional costumes. In music, song, and costume, the Bisserov Sisters are preserving the Bulgarian national identity.

The Seven Performers :

Mitra Bisserova
Neda Bisserova
Lyubimka Bisserova
Rossen Gueorguiev Kovatchev
Vera Stefanova Stoimenova
Krastio Stoyanov Dimov
Bozhidar Ivanov Netov

DISCOGRAPHY
LP - Pirin Traditional songs - Bulgaria -1979
LP Traditional songs from Pirin - Bulgaria
LP Bisserov Sisters & Trakiiska troika -Bulgaria 1986
MC - Old traditional songs - Bulgaria 1988
CD - Music from Pirin Mountains PAN Holland 1990
CD -Folk Chorus from Bulgaria - Japan 1991
CD - Bulgarian polyphony ( III ) JVC Japan 1992
MC - The Bisserov Sisters Bulgaria 1993
MC - Slaveite ot Pirin I Bulgaria 1995
MC - Slaveite ot Pirin II Bulgaria 1995
CD - Pirin wedding and ritual songs - PAN Holland
MC - Diloto Bulgaria 1996
CD - The Hits of The Bisserov Sisters Bulgaria 1996
CD - From the Roots to the Top -Three generations of Bisserov Sisters -
Bulgaria -1998

The Bisserov Sisters have also taken part in many compilations of CD-s
some of which are:
**Global Divas-Voices From Women of the World- USA, Rounder Record
Corp.; 1995. (A CD of the best women's
group in the entire world, nominated at the 1995 Year of the Women
Conference in China)
**European Roots -Copenhagen Cultural Capital of Europe 1996!
**Music of Eastern Europe -- New York-USA 1997.
**Many CD's and LP's’s with the Philip Koutev Folk Ensamble -
Bulgaria
**Also in CD compilations all around the world!