As a child, Angel Dobrev used to listen to the birds sing in his home village of Yamna. Like his grandfather, he made small music instruments to play with. In 1969, he received his first rebec from his father. He was impatient to play a melody, but the rebec made no sound, because he had forgotten to lubricate the bow. 

Today, the renowned rebec player is among the most-honorable members of the Bulgarian National Radio Folk Orchestra. He developed his music talent at the National School of Folk Arts in Kotel and the Academy for Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. Angel Dobrev composed more than 200 pieces. He is a very skillful luthier. Moreover, Angel teaches rebec, stages music shows, produces and releases CDs and arranges folk music.

“The sound of rebec can cheer us up or make us cry”, says Angel. “It goes deep in the human soul and tells stories like no other music instrument does” You can read more details about the celebrated Bulgarian musician in Radio Bulgaria’s article: Angel Dobrev: The sound of rebec can cheer us up or make us cry

Compiled by: Diana Tsankova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov