Radostina Kaneva

Bulgarian Singing

Radostina Kaneva was born in the village of Samuilovo, near Sliven in East Central Bulgaria, and graduated from the National Music School for Bulgarian Folklore in nearby Kotel. She performed with the National Folk Ensemble—Sliven and “Strandzha” Ensemble in Burgas. In 1985 she founded the “Pŭstra Kitka” children’s choir at the community center in her village. Six members of this choir went on to graduate from the Kotel music school and the Plovdiv Academy of Music and Dance Arts. These students were the first products of her creativity, and inspired by their success, she began to compose her own songs, some of which she recorded in 1993 for Bulgarian National Radio. Radostina was then invited to be the vocal soloist for “Bulgari,” led by gajda player Georgi Doichev. She toured with Bulgari across the U.S. and Canada, and performed several times at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Radostina also performed with the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices women’s choir as well with as Cosmic Voices of Bulgaria. She currently lives in Las Vegas.