The polyphonic prowess of my people

If you haven’t heard traditional Bulgarian music, you haven’t lived. Yes we won Eurovision this year, but our musical traditions run much deeper and wider than “Bangaranga”. NASA even selected one of our songs (Izlel e Delyu Haidutin) for the 1977 Voyager Golden Record sent into outer space as a record of the human story and the diverse achievements on our planet. NASA and Eurovision aside, this singing requires incredible skill. It is the sound of my motherland and every time I hear it, it sends me a bit too — both home where it all began, and into the outer cosmos.