Medena Ensemble are making a pilgrimage to the home of Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares, in August 2025.
Tui Mamaki is a World musician, born in France and came back to New Zealand first when she was 3 years old. A French mother and a Kiwi dad.
Making music at an early age and following her muse from the French Folk music of the Basque to classical Indian music. Jazz training and touching on te reo along the way.
Eclectic of course, and with any discipline you seriously pursue, the more you learn, the more you realise how much more there is to learn.
The story must start somewhere. And so, once upon a time, an album was first released in Europe by a Swiss ethnomusicologist Marcel Cellier, Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares. Which affected everyone who recognised something ancient and other-worldly.
It was re-released on a British label 4AD, having found its way there as a cassette (mixtape) by the singer of Bauhaus. Most would have heard it as a reissue on the American Nonesuch label in 1987.
Immediate reaction from the elite of the music world. Bowie and Beatle George Harrison for starters. Linda Ronstadt and Graham Nash said it was the most beautiful music they’d ever heard.
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead… They’re like angels… exceptionally pure, really polished. Our song Uncle John’s Band was inspired by the village music of Bulgaria.
Mamaki came under its powerful witching spell. After completing a bachelor’s degree in Jazz from Auckland University in 2013, she studied voice at a tertiary institute in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
She was mastering the unusual vocal techniques. From there she was able to teach it to female converts back here in New Zealand and hence the creation of the Medena Ensemble.
To delve into the history of the music is to become entwined with the geopolitics of Europe, as Mamaki has related recently.
There is an expansive tradition of Bulgarian folk music with many variations based on tribe, clan, region, village.
Add to this the transition from feudal boundaries to the creation of nations and states from the dictates of warfare, conquest, and empire building.
The Bulgarian Women’s Choir was created by State actors, part of the Soviet Union empire (USSR), to create a new musical culture from the different local and regional styles.
It is said that the land of Thrace, from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, from whence came the music of the God realm, is in what is now Bulgaria and Romania.
First were gathered the sound engineers and producers. The original albums are regarded as state of the art in that respect.
Musicians were trained extensively in choirs with input from the Italian musical tradition. Most well-paid were the engineers and producers, followed by the soloists and then the backing singers. As you would expect, the musicians got paid the least.
The aim of Totalitarian states or empires is to replace and create culture. Dominate by control of thought and the way peoples are allowed to express their heart and soul.
The swastika is an ancient Sanskrit symbol. And we are skating dangerously close to Orwell territory. The history of Europe is one of constant warfare for centuries.
The album is a monumental achievement. The purity of the sonic impact casts immediate spells.
Some people hear it as cats screeching. One ensemble member described it as such at the recent folk club outing at Devonport’s Bunker. When she first heard it. That is duality and then there is that which comes after you transcend it.
The Ensemble led by Tui, will be making a pilgrimage to Bulgaria to ultimately perform at The National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore, also known as the Koprivshtitsa Festival.
A five-yearly event celebrating Bulgarian folk music, dance, and traditions. It gathers folklore ensembles from all over Bulgaria to perform in the Voyvodenets area near Koprivshtitsa. In 2025 it marks the 60th anniversary of the festival.
One of several non-European groups performing at the festival will also be the Yasna Voices a Brooklyn-based women’s choir that specializes in Bulgarian folk music and other international vocal traditions.
Founded in 2002 by Vlada Tomova, the choir aims to introduce audiences to the rich tradition of Bulgarian vocal music. They perform a cappella arrangements of traditional folk songs, often incorporating improvisations and elements from the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices style.
Medena will also be connecting with Yasna prior to reaching Europe. They have been involved in a movie marking the lifetime work of Martha Forsyth, an American ethnomusicologist who spent a lifetime researching and documenting the music of the Bulgarian women.
Digging into the history and lineage of the different regional styles and uncovering the bedrock source material.
She passed away in 2024, so this project will be one way to commemorate her life’s work. Of course, extremely interesting to those of us obsessed by the mysterious voices.
Medena may be collaborating with Yasna on at least one song.
We got a chance to hear the Ensemble in full flight at the Ellen Melville centre, in central Auckland, on 8 June 2025.
Ten singers in total with leader and musical director Tui. All wearing traditional costumes. Tui had a large headdress which added half a foot to her already diminutive stature.
Word-of-mouth and friends of the singers had brought a full room that night.
Starts solo with a lament from Tui. Sounding like a muezzin call to prayer, as the others file in and join to widen the palette. Ends in a yelp.
Following song is in the familiar Mystere tradition. Call and response, which becomes rhythm and swing at the half-way mark. Voices climb higher and sound spectral.
Sadi Rada. Tui starts solo with Middle Eastern and Indian tones. Vocals layered and the pressure waves build relentlessly.
A couple of songs written by Hirini (Sid) Melbourne, a Māori songwriter, and poet. Adapted to sound Bulgarian, although Purea Nei sounds like Doo-Wop.
Sednale is a new song that they will be presenting at the festival. The voices combine with an ease of delivery which is deceptive.
Kaval Sviri, and we are back to full choral mode to finish the evening. Familiar to some in the room as the theme music for Xena: Warrior Princess.
The equivalent of musical rapture and a beautiful performance from Medena Ensemble.
At Red Raven we will be looking to cover their progress towards Koprivshtitsa Festival.
Rev. Orange Peel
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