As early, as the middle of the first millenium A.D. some settlements appeared in the hilly country around Sofia, the present capital of Bulgaria. One of them is the village of Bistritsa. It is huddled in a small valley at the foot of Vitosha mountain and is surrounded by century-old deciduous woods. Crystal-clear streams flow through its teritory and there are mineral hot-springs not far from it.

    Myths and legends tell us about the ancient past of this region, where the life of those people passed in struggle or in harmony with the elements of nature. Labour was hard and wearisome. They extracted iron and gold from the bosom of the mountain, bred cattle over the vast pastures, dealt with agriculture and timber production. Nature was not always benevolent to people but they endured the adversities of life being tough, tenacious and persevering. These moral virtues characterise all Shops and specify them as a separate group within Bulgarian ethnos.

    People from Bistrica found comfort and hope in their customs and rituals, a combination of pagan, Christian and traditional elements in accord. The unsurpassed polyphonic songs of the women from Bistrica, the rhythmic, lively and original folk dances of both local men and women reflect the views on life and historical mamory of the preceding generations as regards past events and phenomena.
    The Bistritsa Ensemble with leader Dina Ancheva exists since 1939. Its goal is to study, recreate and extend the inherited folk's art of the village of Bistritsa. The Ensemble comprises singers, dancers and musicians.

    Its core performers are the famous group of polyphonic singers called "The Old Women from Bistritsa". Its repertoire consists of remnants of ancient songs taken from the local folklore and comprising about 300 rituals, work song and horo-leading songs.

    The group if famous with its merged tree-voice singing (preserved in Bulgaria only), voice retrieved "out of throat" with a very strong sonority. The women's performance is antiphonically divided into two groups of four singing women. A woman in the group "calls out" (leads melody), another "bass-chants askew" - she determines the length of the ornamental curve and rhythm, singing high and low between both tones; two women "bass-chant straight", drawing the basic tone. The voices rise at short intervals, just in seconds.

    A reference to the words of Prof.Judjev could best elucidate the epoch to which they belong:
"The tree-voice singing of Bistritsa contains living remnants of an ancient musical culture, dating since pre-Hellenic times. The specific metric schemes which are preserved in the Bulgarian folklore are evidenced also in the metrics of Aeshil and Euripid".

    The orchestra consists of the following traditional musical instruments: bagpipe, rebeck, kaval, pandore and drum. In its programme prevail mainly horo-leading and ritual melodies from the ethnographic region of the Chops with all the richness of the Bulgarian rythmics.

    Talented young dancers perform original dances of Bistritsa, as well as dances from other ethnographic regions. The main effort of the artistic leader is to keep the style and the nature of the local dances; to capture the original movements and their corresponding musical expression. The main goal of the Ensemble is: to show the art created by the folk's genius throughout the ages in its purest form as far as the scenic rules would alow it.

    Most of the suits are original ancient hand-made clothes, delivered in succession from grandmothers to grandchildren. Others are recreations of the old style and are made of the possibly most similar fabrics and cut.

    The Bistritsa Ensemble has had performance tours in Hungary, Germany, England, France and in the U.S.A.