Orfeia is a women’s vocal ensemble dedicated to preserving and sharing traditional music from Bulgaria and Eastern Europe. Orfeia’s repertoire spans the rich and diverse musical heritage of Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia and their neighbors. From traditional to sacred and from the Middle Ages to modern day, the captivating sounds of the Balkans emerge in beautiful melodies, lush harmonies, unusual dissonances and vocal ornaments, unique rhythms, village songs, custom songs with overlapping lines, antiphonal songs with drones, seasonal music, dance music, and children’s songs. Orfeia places the music in its context – history, language, folklore and folk traditions – giving listeners and participants a window into the traditional culture of other countries.
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Founded in 2006 by the legendary Bulgarian singer Tatiana Sarbinska, Orfeia made its concert debut at a gala concert in Sofia, Bulgaria in honor of Tatiana Sarbinska and featuring Tatiana and an all-star roster of Bulgarian traditional singers and instrumentalists. Orfeia has performed in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria with the Pirin Ensemble, one of Bulgaria’s foremost national folk companies, at the National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore in Koprivshtitsa, at national competitions for compositions based on traditional Bulgarian music, and in concerts in Sofia, Plovdiv and other cities throughout Bulgaria. Orfeia has been featured on The Slavi Show, Bulgaria’s most popular late-night television program, and on Bulgarian National Radio.
Based in Montgomery County, Maryland, Orfeia has performed throughout the mid-Atlantic region and has been the recipient of grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
Through performances and workshops, Orfeia shares this beautiful and exciting musical heritage with young and old, beginners or experienced musicians.
Orfeia is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your donations are tax-deductible.
Email us at orfeiavocalensemble@gmail.com.
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Tatiana Sarbinska, Artistic Director
Tatiana Sarbinska, the founder and artistic director of Orfeia, is a world-renowned Balkan singer, composer, teacher and director. Born in the village of Rila, Bulgaria, she began singing as a child and rose to become one of the preeminent singers of her generation. She was a featured soloist with the internationally-acclaimed Pirin Ensemble, touring throughout the world and making numerous recordings and films for television. Her encyclopedic repertoire includes music from all of Bulgaria’s folklore regions as well as the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Tatiana has performed throughout the U.S., including the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and the Library of Congress, and received a Washington Area Music Award for World Music Vocalist. In 2006, Tatiana received the Ivan Vasov Medal from the government of Bulgaria and in 2015 she received the Saints Cyril and Methodius Medal. In 2016, Ms. Sarbinska was awarded the Honorary Medal of the President of Bulgaria in recognition of her contributions to arts and culture, and in 2019 she was awarded the Order of St. Cyril and Methodius, first degree. In 2020, Tatiana received the Cyril and Methodius Necklace, Bulgaria’s highest cultural honor. Tatiana has been recognized with a master artist grant from the Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Awards Program of the Maryland State Arts Council (with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts) and with an Individual Artist Award in musical composition from the Maryland State Arts Council. In 2010, Tatiana’s composition Moyeta Pesen was awarded first prize in the International Competition for Symphonic Composition Based on Traditional Motifs in 7/8. In 2014, Ms. Sarbinska was an honored guest performer at the gala 60th anniversary of the Pirin Ensemble, and in 2015 she was made an Honorary Citizen of the City of Blagoevgrad. Her CDs include Makedonsko Devojche and Katerino Mome and she appears frequently on Bulgarian television. Tatiana’s recording of Katerino Mome, her own composition, continues to be one of the most popular and recognized Macedonian songs in Bulgaria.
Since moving to the United States in 1991, Tatiana has taught and directed many Balkan ensembles throughout the country and is currently the artistic director of three choruses, Divi Zheni and Zornitsa in the Boston area, and Orfeia in Washington, D.C.
Tatiana’s extraordinary mastery of Eastern European music and vocal technique is matched by her unique ability to teach it to others, from beginner to professional. With a degree from the Academy of Music and Choreographic Art in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Tatiana went on to teach there and at the Western University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. She was Director of Education for the Art School of Blagoevgrad, where she developed and directed the curriculum for 2500 students. In the United States, Tatiana has taught at, among many others, the Boston Conservatory Chorus, Boston University, Northeastern University-Boston, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Mendocino Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Village Harmony, and the Augusta Heritage Center, and she has been a consultant for Revels, the renowned international music organization. She has conducted countless individual and group lessons and workshops across the country, for beginners and professionals and for children and adults.
Whether in performance, conducting or teaching, Tatiana’s magnetic personality, passion and virtuosity create a thrilling experience for her listeners and students.
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Meet Orfeia
Natalia Blinkova is a veteran Balkan singer as an alumna of the Yale Slavic Chorus and an original member of Orfeia. After a hiatus (a move to Austin, Texas) she moved back to D.C. and returned to Orfeia as a mainstay of the soprano section. She says “being in Orfeia has been one of the most genuinely fulfilling pursuits in my life; Orfeia was one of the main reasons for my wanting to return to DC.”
Marcia Daft
Sofia Davis (Blinkova) was first exposed to Balkan folk music in the womb. Sofia returned to the Balkan vocal tradition as a teenager. A proud soprano, Sofia thanks Tatiana Sarbinska for her mentorship and inspiration.
Tatyana Dimitrova-Russler, while growing up in Bulgaria, listened and danced to Balkan folk music from a young age at family gatherings and community celebrations. She may have even been a (reluctant) participant in a couple of youth folklore choirs in middle school. It wasn’t until she moved to the United States in her early thirties that Tatyana realized she had taken her native musical traditions for granted and realized how proud she is of her cultural heritage. She now actively seeks to stay in touch with it through song and dance, and feels honored to be part of Orfeia and humbled by the group’s dedication to Bulgarian traditional music.
Carlendra Frank is no stranger to performance as a dancer: she has been a b-girl (breakdancer) since 1999 and is a member of Urban Artistry, a DMV-based dance company. Carlendra, a self-proclaimed “Bulgariaphile,” who reads and speaks Bulgarian, attended an Orfeia concert in early 2011, and she was enthralled with melodic tunes of the Balkans. She joined Orfeia shortly thereafter and has had the time of her life singing about romantic tragedies, sock knitting and talking plants. Carlendra is honored to be under the guidance of Tatiana Sarbinska and her fellow “Orfettes,” and she looks forward to many more exciting performances with the group.
Dee Harris
Sophia Maravell The first time Sophia heard Balkan music live she knew she had to sing what she would later learn were rich Balkan polyphonic harmonies. Similar to the mountain music of her father’s lineage in the mountains of Greece, the music felt familiar. It felt like a calling that led her to singing. She started organizing and leading song circles, attending Balkan song workshops, and listening to live and recorded Balkan music wherever she could find it. Years later she found Orfeia and has been honored to train with Tatiana Sarbinska and Orfeia ever since.
Kate Mooney
Ava Stebbins has been working with Tanya to learn Balkan vocal technique since she was five years old. One of the two youngest members of the group, she is nonetheless a veteran performer both with Orfeia and with Revels DC and other performing dance and music groups and is an accomplished musician.
Amita Vempati is a seasoned singer, dancer, and poet performing throughout the DMV. Having trained predominantly in South Asian classical music and specialized in Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, Amita sought out singing lessons with the Stefan Kanev Folkloric Choir in Sofia and fell in love with Bulgarian music thereafter. She found an opportunity to continue studying the beautiful art form back home in the DMV through Orfeia and is honored to be under the guidance of its incredible musicians.
Orfeia 
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