Dessislava Stefanova is a Bulgarian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

singer and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

choir director A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. She was named Bulgarian Woman of the Year (Българка на годината) 2017. Born in

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

, by age six Stefanova was training in western classical music, and singing with children's folk music and dance ensemble Zagorche. On moving to

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

to study linguistics at Sofia University, she was offered a place in the Filip Kutev National Folk Music and Dance Ensemble, and sang professionally with them for three years, until she moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 2000. She subsequently gained a master's degree in music at London's

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

and completed

Estill Voice Training Estill Voice Training (often abbreviated EVT) is a program for developing vocal skills based on analysing the process of vocal production into control of specific structures in the vocal mechanism. By acquiring the ability to consciously move eac ...

to level 3. She is a featured soloist on films including

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, Brothers Grim, The Virgin Queen and Borat, and on the games Halo 4 and

Halo 5 ''Halo 5: Guardians'' is a 2015 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries, published by Microsoft Studios, and released worldwide for the Xbox One game console on October 27, 2015. The plot follows two fireteams of human super ...

. She presented the Radio 3 documentary Bulgaria's Voice. She has performed with

Joglaresa Joglaresa is a London-based medieval and folk band, known for their scholarly and imaginative re-creation of medieval music. Founded in 1992 by director Belinda Sykes, their music spans a range of European, Middle Eastern and North African medieva ...

and

Balkan Beat Box Balkan Beat Box (BBB) is an Israeli musical group. Founded by Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan in 2003, BBB was later joined by Tomer Yosef who became a core member. The group plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates Jewish, Southeastern ...

. Stefanova formed the

London Bulgarian Choir The London Bulgarian Choir (LBC) is a London-based amateur choir specialising in Bulgarian folk music. Dessislava Stefanova has led the choir since its formation in 2000. Primarily a performing choir, the LBC perform around twenty concerts a ...

in 2000, winning BBC Radio 3's Open Choir of the Year in 2006. She has led the choir to record three albums, on three tours of Bulgaria, and through collaborations with British Sea Power, Doves,

the Turbans ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Avshalom Caspi Avshalom Caspi (born May 5, 1960) is an Israeli-American psychologist and the Edward M. Arnett Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University, as well as Professor of Personality Developm ...

at the

BBC Electric Proms The BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms (formerly the BBC Electric Proms) was an October music festival in London run by the BBC for five years, 2006–2010. On 31 January 2011, the BBC announced that the event would be discontinued with immediate effec ...

and Nigel Kennedy. She has been leading the Swiss Bulgarian Choir since 2011, and leads workshops in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Ethnomusicologist Caroline Bithell describes her skills: "In addition to the repertoire itself and an intimate knowledge of the cultural context of the songs she introduces, one of the most valuable things Dessi has to offer is at the level of vocal technique and timbre as she guides her students through a series of exercises designed to bring them closer to the Bulgarian sound."

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanova, Dessislava 21st-century Bulgarian women singers Bulgarian sopranos Bulgarian expatriates in the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people) Living people