"Magic Is Our Song" Banski Starcheta fundraiser

Recently, founder Atanas Yanchovichin took out a loan to pay for "Banski Starcheta" to fly to Seattle to perform in the annual Christmas Concert. We all know what it costs for our families to fly across the ocean. Imagine if your family numbers 10... Funds raised here will go towards paying for their airfare.

My name is Bogdan Darev, a Bulgarian born film producer and director. I first met "Banski Starcheta" in 2018 and filmed them in my documentary "There". I've created the fundraiser "Magic Is Our Song" to help advance the mission and philanthropic activity of "Banski Starcheta".

In my travels to Bulgaria I come across too many examples of Bulgarians doing incredible work entirely on their own to preserve our culture and traditions. This Holiday Season I invite you to make a difference with me.

"Banski Starcheta means everything to me – it’s a way of life, it’s boyhood, it means confidence. Nowhere else such a voice can arise but in a man's throat alone. The male Bansko song is one of its kind. It could be that it comes from the Bansko dialect, from within our own nature, from the purity of the bright, clear flow of our river given the name Glazne (in our dialect - 'eyes') which sounds like poetry, or from the Pirin mountain – that perennial guardian. It's as if magic is our song." - Atanas Yanchovichin, founder.

The group was founded in 1980 by Atanas Yanchovichin. “Taseto,” as he is locally known in Bansko, has been teaching folklore at the Children's Center and the primary school of Bansko municipality for 10 years. He teaches both Bulgarians and foreigners from Europe and America. Atanas manages nearly 30 singers, instrumentalists, and dancers. He does everything on a voluntary basis. He never charges his students.

Working together with youth groups where both boys and girls can participate, he is bringing up generations of young people who can appreciate local folklore, and not only understand its meaning, but also make it exclusive and of high value.

You can find out more about them at their website here.

Happy Holidays and Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for your contribution.