Paris-based trio "Orenda" presents an entirely Bulgarian repertoire in Sofia for the first time

To make your dream come true in a Bulgarian rhythm and on French soil. Thus, metaphorically, we can begin the story of Bulgarian musician and pedagogue Stefka Miteva and the Bulgarian-French trio "Orenda", in which she is complemented by Sandrine Conry and Julia Orcet.

The beginning of the polyphonic group was in 2018, when the famous French rapper Gims, then Maître Gims, called Stefka Miteva and invited her to form a Bulgarian choir to accompany him on stage in the final of the television format "The Voice" - France. Over six million people in front of the small screen heard for the first time the Bulgarian folk song "Bre, Petrunko" in a modern arrangement, performed by Orenda

"His dream, ever since he was a child, was to sing with Bulgarian voices. Gims asked me to form a choir of 12 people and to propose a song and the arrangement for it. After our participation, we decided to keep this newly formed group, which went through various stages. A year later, we sang again at his concert at the Stade de France, with 24 of us there. Gims knew the Belgian musician Stromae, who had heard us at the stadium and wrote to me inviting us to participate in his new album "Multitude", which he was preparing at the time. I wrote the introduction to the song "L'Enfer", which the three of us sang, and since then we have continued to exist as a trio with a repertoire of Bulgarian polyphonies, folklore and Orthodox music, and a French project-performance that we called "The She-Wolf" (la louve)", Stefka Miteva says in an interview for Radio Bulgaria.

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Thanks to the musical collaborations and the incredible drive of Stefka Miteva to create and establish a Bulgarian choir on French soil, in just a few years the Orenda trio received an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria to participate and represent Bulgaria at the World Congress of Francophonie in Paris in October 2024.

In March 2025, the trio visited Bulgaria for the first time with three concerts in Sofia and Plovdiv as part of Francophonie Week.

"Our repertoire was mainly with our French program, given the occasion," Miteva tells us and does not hide her excitement about the trio's upcoming visit to Studio 1 of the Bulgarian National Radio on October 15. That is when the Orenda trio will have its first solo big concert with predominantly Bulgarian songs. And the Bulgarian National Radio also occupies important pages in the Bulgarian woman's personal history, because for ten years, from the age of six to sixteen, she was part of the Bulgarian National Radio Children's Choir. "These are unforgettable years for me," she admits.

On October 15, memories will return as she steps onto the familiar stage, but in the company of her French "musical sisters." For the other two singers in the trio – Julia Orcet and Sandrine Conry – polyphony and knowledge of different folk cultures have marked their entire path

"I have always been singing, ever since I was very young," says Julia Orcet in the Radio Bulgaria studio. "When my parents talk about it, they tell me that even before I could talk, I sang in the car all the time and always. And that's why very quickly, when I was only 8 years old, they enrolled me in singing lessons, and in a choir with older people than me. After I finished my education, I went to Paris to study at a specialized school of singing and music, École de la Chanson de Paris. All this time, I listened to ethno music, so-called world music, and was very interested in polyphony. In 2011, I saw an audition announcement for participation in a trio, I applied and they chose me."

In fact, the trio is "Samodivi" - a formation that Stefka Miteva created with another singer. At the same time, around 2011, the Bulgarian also met Sandrine Conry, but in another project based on Croatian folk music.

"For me, music and singing connect us to something very deep within ourselves. I think it has a direct connection to something very maternal and very familial. Like Julia and Stefka, I started singing at a very young age, at the age of five in kindergarten, and I associate my first vocal teacher with maternal figures, because I have a certain personal, difficult history. I discovered the maternal figure in the teaching, learning songs, and the people you experience it with. The people I learned singing with embodied the maternal figure in my life. Later, I became interested in the music of other countries. I come from a region in France where there were many Polish immigrants, with whom I sang in various choirs. I started with classical music, then I sang church songs, but the curious thing was that after concerts and after rehearsals on weekends, there was a festive part with traditional Polish songs. And so my interest in different types of music naturally began."

Or as we Bulgarians say – you start to resemble the people you associate with. Gradually, Sandrine became more and more interested in European and Balkan folklore, began to teach, compose and sing in various formations. The meeting with Stefka Miteva revealed to her the depth and immense beauty of Bulgarian folk singing.

"What really excites me are the specific vocal harmonies with close intervals in Bulgarian folklore, which are very rare and not found in European music. I've heard them more in jazz or contemporary music, so it's super interesting to find them in traditional music, in an ancient melody. Harmony is transmitted through vibrations and somehow my whole being, my body vibrates, thanks to the Bulgarian vocal harmonies, when I sing. You know, I like being a soloist, but what I like most in music is sharing and group music. I really like the three of us being together on one stage and complementing each other in musical harmony."

Sandrine Conry compares singing Bulgarian folklore with the feeling that African-American gospel music brings. Our songs, in her words, contain very strong emotions at the same time, such as joy, sadness and nostalgia, which are felt by both the audience and the performer themselves. And Stefka Miteva admits that the most difficult thing about singing Bulgarian folklore is mastering the sound production. For Sandrine and Julie, the sound "L" was also a stumbling block. "But they do a great job and are unique in remembering and singing the lyrics," says Miteva who selects the Bulgarian songs in the Orenda repertoire.

Visiting Bulgaria twice this year is a real gift for the two French women. "We have been singing your songs for 15 years and we are finally here," says Julia with a smile. They are impressed by the Bulgarian hospitality and, above all, by the warm welcome and positive attitude they receive from the Bulgarian audience. "This is very important to us," shares Sandrine.

After Sofia, the three ladies will return to Paris to realize their new idea for a musical program-performance, in which they will unite Bulgarian music with unknown and forgotten songs from French folklore, arranged for polyphonic singing. After working with Stromae, they admit that they have had many more similar engagements with famous performers and DJs in France.

They also expect the release of several films very soon, in which their songs and music are included. Among the titles are "The Secret" by director Romain Gavras, son of Costas Gavras Costa-Gavras and a film production by Netflix.

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