"The best and most enjoyable thing for me was singing. I used to work and sing. I knew a lot of songs and sang all day long, wherever I was, whatever I was doing" - says the great folk Thracian singer Yordanka Ilieva. She was born on August 22, 1922 in the village of Nedyalsko, Yambol region.

She learned her first songs from his mother. She sang in her everyday life, during village celebrations and gatherings. Her beautiful soprano sculpted the rich Thracian ornaments and left no listener indifferent.

She was accompanied by the Ugarchinska Band, where her future husband Iliya Dimitrov played the bagpipe. Yordanka Ilieva is one of the eight singers selected from over 400 candidates for the newly established State Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances - Sofia. She frequently performs as a soloist, as well as part of various chamber ensembles with which she tours the world. Among the colleagues with whom he has worked is Todor Todorov, long-time technical director of the ˮPhilip Koutev Ensembleˮ. 

ˮOf all the singers I knew in the Ensemble, Yordanka Ilieva was the most humble, she was very quiet," Todor Todorov told Radio Bulgaria. Interestingly, she and another famous folk singer - Valkana Stoyanova, had the same fate. Both singers were discovered at festivals on the 1930s and invited to make records. They both born in neighbouring villages in Yambol region (south-eastern Bulgaria), 3 km from one another.

After a casting in the 1950s, when they were among the first singers to be selected for the Ensemble. Later, as experienced singers, Valkana and Yordanka were assigned to train the younger singers."

Yordanka Ilieva left over 70 Thracian songs for the Golden Fund of the Bulgarian National Radio. The folklore heritage of the famous family is remarkable for its purity of style. Their performances are a wonderful singing and instrumental school for the young followers, a source of ideas for future creativity.

Editing: Albena Bezovska, Elena Karkalanova