Tzvety Dosseva

Bulgarian Singing

Tzvety Dosseva is the daughter of well-known Bulgarian musicians Lyuben Dossev and Tanya Dosseva. Inheriting her parents’ talent for music and performing, Tzvety experienced the stage for the first time in kindergarten and never looked back. True to the family tradition, Tzvety took special interest in Bulgarian folk songs and intended to enroll in the Plovdiv Academy for Music, Dance and Fine Arts, but the fall of communism in Eastern Europe opened up a whole different world of opportunities. In 1998, Tzvety moved to the United States to pursue a career in Computer Science.

Her love for Bulgarian folk music was never too far behind. Immediately after arriving in the US, Tzvety started singing with the local Washington, D.C. band, Lyuti Chushki. In the subsequent 20 years with Lyuti Chushki, Tzvety performed up and down the East Coast at popular and obscure venues, countless festivals, private parties, embassy functions, concert series, workshops, weddings (but no funerals so far!). With Bryndyn Weiner she formed a Balkan wedding-style band, called Balkanics, and offered the audience a different flavor of Bulgarian music, incorporating more modern instrumentation and complex arrangements.

Tzvety says, “I am looking forward to sharing some of my favorite songs with you all at Mendocino this June. I last attended East Coast camp more than 15 years ago as a student with my parents. Some of my favorite musicians and dancers were there: Esma Redžepova, Yuri Yunakov, Vassil Bebelekov, Georgi Doichev, Merita Halili and Raif Hyseni, Carol Silverman, Donka and Nikolay Kolevi, my own parents, and so many others. I vividly remember those weeks at Ramblewood, the late nights, the non-stop dancing and partying. I could safely say that those moments gave shape to the kind of musician I wanted to be. Returning to camp now as a teacher is a true honor and I couldn’t think of a better way to give back and hopefully inspire a few folks to love this music at least as much as I do.”

Today Tzvety lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her 2 teenage kids, near their dad Bryndyn Weiner and their grandparents, Larry Weiner and Margaret Loomis.