On International Music Day, listeners of Radio Bulgaria are warmly greeted by Penka Kouneva, the Grammy Award-winning Bulgarian composer who has spent over twenty-five years building her career in Los Angeles, writing and orchestrating music for film, television, and video games.

Her work has featured in Hollywood blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Matrix, Angels & Demons, and Elysium, while her own scores for games like Prince of Persia and Transformers have reached millions worldwide.

Kouneva’s orchestral albums The Woman Astronaut and Rebirth of Id, released on Universal Music, have been hailed by critics as “fantastic” (Billboard) and “breathtaking” (Forbes).

In 2022, her name resonated globally with the project Women Warriors – dedicated to celebrated women who fought for social, civil, and human rights. Kouneva contributed seven pieces to the album, which won a Grammy in the Best Classical Compendium category.

Penka Kouneva never misses an opportunity to talk about her Bulgarian roots. When she first settled in Los Angeles, she quickly realised that her Bulgarian cultural and national identity would set her apart and help her break through.

She describes America as a culture of entrepreneurs — active and communicative people. “People struggle; it’s difficult; they work very hard. But I came here with a strong work ethic, something I learned in Bulgaria from my mother and father. They worked tirelessly.”

Her American chapter began in North Carolina at Duke University, the only institution to offer her a full scholarship, enabling her to study free of charge. By 1999, she had moved to Los Angeles, where she encountered the complexities of the Hollywood business. At its core, she says, lies a drive to minimise risk. “Breaking through is extremely difficult because the industry doesn’t want to deal with unknown, unproven people. And, honestly, it is much harder for women. There’s a view in Hollywood that women are secondary and can’t handle the job. Especially in composition, because historically there have been no women in this field, no tradition at all.”

Kouneva admits that she has always been an idealist. So how has she managed to survive — let alone thrive — in an American show business world that she likens to a pool teeming with predators?

“My education in Bulgaria and my orchestral training gave me the ability to deliver quality from the very beginning. I started out with orchestration. People recognised my musicality and cultural background. My career has always been dual: on the one hand, I work as a composer; on the other, I have orchestrated for some of the greatest composers — people I deeply respect, whose work has also shaped me as an artist.

It was my Bulgarian education and preparation that truly helped me at the start. Secondly, I have always been hard-working and deeply focused on learning. Nothing else distracted me — I was oblivious to everything outside my work. This means not paying attention to anything outside your own interests. Gossip, for example, never interested me. My thoughts were always about music and my career.

And this is where the ‘piranhas’ lay in wait. At its core, Hollywood is a business built on exploitation. Everyone wants to pay you as little as possible, or to exploit your work without pay. I have taken on many such projects — some meaningful, others not — something I now regret, as it meant lost time. But my unwavering focus on music and on growing as an artist helped me avoid slipping down darker paths.”

For Penka Kouneva, creativity, ideas, and emotional depth are the most important values. “Music must be emotional — that’s what I teach my film music specialist students. It should capture the listener’s soul. I have never been attracted to anything vulgar. I have always wanted music that is masterfully crafted, with a beautiful melody, fine harmony, powerful orchestration, and clear form — essentially, the values of classical music. I want to write beautiful, artistic, and captivating music.”

Her most significant upcoming project is the Bulgarian Classical Concerts initiative in Los Angeles, which is already familiar to audiences back home. At its heart are Kouneva and violinist Blagomira Lipari:

“It is so important to promote our culture. For decades, we were cut off from the world, and people don’t know us. Most are still quite uninformed, and we feel it is our moral responsibility to change this. We will combine Bulgarian masterpieces with Western works — not exclusively Bulgarian pieces, otherwise the concept would quickly become repetitive. However, we will present these works alongside one another to demonstrate stylistic trends. Through these concerts, we have so many beautiful and important stories to tell, and this will help establish Bulgaria’s cultural identity in the minds of those who attend our events.”

She admits that she is always thinking about Bulgaria and that she greatly values her self-awareness as a Bulgarian. In conclusion, the country’s most successful composer says it is an honour to appear on Radio Bulgaria and sends the audience her heartfelt wish: “Above all, health and happiness — always!”