Samir Kurtov

Samir Kurtov was born in 1971 in Kavrakirovo, a village near Petrich in the Pirin region of southwest Bulgaria. He is the son of Demtchuk Kurtov, a descendant of a Romani family of zourna players. His intensely high artistry has been inspired by listening to the Bulgarian clarinet style over the last forty years. He has evolved the zourna technique by developing its ambitus, adding chromaticisms and new modulations. Samir has for several decades played for wrestling competitions in the region of Serres, for weddings in North Macedonia, and for festivals in Turkey.

In this performance, Samir is accompanied by Demir Kurtov (Demcho Iliev) on the second zourna, Ognyan Lazarov (Ogi) on the “glasnik” zourna, and Oleg Mitrev (Orhan) on the daouli. Twenty-four-year-old Demir is a zurna player (also from Kavrakirovo village) who picked up the instrument at the age of ten. Ogi is grandchild to Istref Lazarov, one of the most famous zurna players from Kavrakirovo. At the same time, Demir is Samir’s nephew and heir to the zurnadji tradition of Kurtov’s family. Oleg, who comes from the village of Yavornitsa, has been playing the drums for Samir's orchestra from the age of eight.