“Where is my “at home”? seems to be a question the answer to which is only logical. “Where I was born.” But anyone can feel at home anywhere in the world – that is something pianist Milen Kirov has experienced himself. He has divided his time during the past 25 years of active work and stage appearances between Los Angeles, Sofia and Plovdiv.

Born to a family of musicians, he has had appearance together with his father, songwriter and gadulka player and teacher Todor Kirov. 

Milen developed an interest in folklore from an early age. He started going to piano lessons and some time later began to accompany his mother – folk music singer Velichka Minkova. For a time, he even played the gadulka though the piano would dominate his musical career. When he was 10 or 11, he discovered the magic of jazz, and his father gave him his first Yamaha synthesizer. Years later Milen Kirov would come to be its brand ambassador. As a teenager, the musician found there was a connection between Bulgarian folklore and American jazz:

“I noticed that Bulgarian and American musical tradition is rooted in two elements – one is improvisation, freedom of thought and a personal contribution to making music, and the other is rhythm. Of course, the asymmetrical metres are different and are typical of Bulgarian music, but in a similar way it is the rhythm that is the guiding element in traditional American music that comes from Afro-American culture. That is why I combine these traditions, to my mind they fit so well together in a blend that sounds so very natural,” says Milen Kirov in an interview with Radio Bulgaria.

He emigrated to America when he was 18 – and he first went to Las Vegas. He started out as a classical pianist, but he also played jazz, pop and rock.

“When I arrived in Las Vegas, a new friend of mine was just leaving on a long concert tour, and he offered that I take his place at a Baptist church. The church had a band, a choir of about 100 members, and it could seat around 3,000. We had several services a day, and I learnt so much and was able to perform with some really good musicians who appreciated my performance.”

Milen performed at the church for about 6 months. He says the abrupt transition from classical music to gospel was not so hard for him:

“Gospel is a pillar of jazz, RnB and soul music, but I had been notating different melodies and solos by ear since I was 12, I had remembered songs by jazz and soul performers so I was, to some extent, ready. I have never separated the different styles in music and that is something that is evident in my current production, of which classical music is an element.”

Although there are many Bulgarian classical pianists living and working in the US, they do not always agree on what their joint musical effort ought to sound like. For many years Milen Kirov has been performing with his brother in an orchestra he founded called Meze.

"Meze orchestra started out as a student ensemble in 2010. There was a huge amount of interest. There were about 30 people who wanted to join, I chose 14, I started writing original music and arranging Bulgarian and Balkan folk songs. I did a concert at a club, and the people that came had never heard anything like this.”

The concert was a success and that prompted Milen to make some changes. He chose some of Bulgaria’s top musicians, added some people from outside the country and formed a group combining American with Balkan music. This style then got a colourful name – peasant funk – as both musical traditions come “from the people.”

In the country of his birth Milen plays with friends from Plovdiv he has known for years – saxophone player Dimitar Liolev, drummer Nacho Gospodinov and bass player Alexander Lekov, or with other band members – drummer Kristiyan Zhelev and bass player Daniele Febo. He has also released a solo album called Spatium.  

Milen Kirov is also a popular teacher of composition, classical and jazz piano, theory of music and solfeggio at some of the most prestigious universities in Californa – the California Institute of the Arts, California State Unversity – Northridge, Chapman University, Colburn School. He also plays with some of the world’s top rock and jazz musicians like Perry Farrell and Ellis Hall – for him he wrote the song Love Revolution about all the people in the world who want to achieve a revolution through love, not war.  

In his spare time Milen Kirov loves to do summer and winter sports, and he is an accomplished chef, experimenting with different kinds of taste, just as he is doing with the different kinds of rhythm.

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos and videos courtesy of Milen Kirov, milenkirov.net