Pirin Folk Ensemble

The Pirin Folk Ensemble (Bulgarian: Фолклорен ансамбъл „Пирин“, Folkloren ansambal „Pirin“) (also Pirin Folk Song and Dances State Ensemble) is a Bulgarian performance group. It consists of a folk orchestra, a dance troupe, and a women's choir. The ensemble strives to preserve Bulgarian culture by performing traditional music and dance from throughout Bulgaria. It has performed over 6500 concerts in 50 different countries, and produced numerous LPs, CDs, videos, and songbooks. National Geographic called Pirin "an organic synthesis of the regional folk choral and dance traditions of Bulgaria."[1]

The Pirin Folk Ensemble, named after the Pirin Mountains, was founded in 1954 in Blagoevgrad, a town in southwestern Bulgaria. Professor Kiril Stefanov was the Pirin Folk Ensemble's chief art director and conductor for many years.