A Platform for Ethnically and Culturally Inspired Music
ABOUT
IRFAN
IRFAN is an Ethereal World Music band formed in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2001. IRFAN’s kaleidoscopic sound reveals an original electro-acoustic World Fusion influenced by the sacred and folk music traditions of the Balkans, Anatolia, Persia, the Middle East, North Africa, and India, as well as by the musical and spiritual heritage of Byzantium, Medieval Europe, and the Ancient Mediterranean.
The integrity of IRFAN’s sound bears the depths of an audio-archaeology that explores the lost prehistoric universal musical heritage within the layers of time. IRFAN is known for its extensive use of ethereal and mystic female vocals in addition to strong male vocals and choirs, in combination with an assortment of traditional Bulgarian, Turkish, Middle Eastern, Persian, and Indian string, wind, key, and percussive instruments woven into a delicate electronic sound.
The band’s name is borrowed from the Sufi terminology and means “gnosis,” “secret knowledge,” or “revelation.” And indeed, IRFAN’s music is an invitation for a mystical trip in and beyond time, a message poetically revealed in the language of the heart.
Since 2003, IRFAN has been a renowned artist of the French label, PRIKOSNOVENIE, with three released albums and several movie and theatrical soundtracks so far. Over the last decade, IRFAN has toured with great success across Europe (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, etc.) and has been acclaimed at some of the main European Gothic, Neo Folk, Medieval, and World Music festivals and events (including Wave-Gotik-Treffen, M’era Luna, Summer Darkness, Festival-Mediaval, Castlefest, Folkwoods, Colours of Ostrava, Entremuralhas, to name but a few).
In 2015, IRFAN released its new album “The Eternal Return,” which was highly appreciated by critics worldwide and was proclaimed “the album of the year” by Side-Line Magazine and rated the № 1 position in its TOP 20 of the best albums of 2015.
Band Members:
Ivaylo Petrov – oud, baglama saz, tambura, setar, sitar, santour, programming
Kalin Yordanov – vocals, daf, bodhran, darbouka
Peter Todorov – darbouka, zarb, riq, electronic percussion pad
Yasen Lazarov – kaval, nay, duduk, harmonium
Featuring:
Darina Zlatkova – vocals; Denitza Seraphimova – vocals
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Irfantheband
Music label: http://www.prikosnovenie.com/groupes/Irfank.html
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzD9LJgA1i6UcVlT1RDvMBg
BandCamp: https://irfan.bandcamp.com/album/the-eternal-return
Booking contact: irfan.booking@gmail.com
IRFAN is an Ethereal World Music band formed in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2001. IRFAN’s kaleidoscopic sound reveals an original electro-acoustic World Fusion influenced by the sacred and folk music traditions of the Balkans, Anatolia, Persia, the Middle East, North Africa, and India, as well as by the musical and spiritual heritage of Byzantium, Medieval Europe, and the Ancient Mediterranean.
The integrity of IRFAN’s sound bears the depths of an audio-archaeology that explores the lost prehistoric universal musical heritage within the layers of time. IRFAN is known for its extensive use of ethereal and mystic female vocals in addition to strong male vocals and choirs, in combination with an assortment of traditional Bulgarian, Turkish, Middle Eastern, Persian, and Indian string, wind, key, and percussive instruments woven into a delicate electronic sound.
The band’s name is borrowed from the Sufi terminology and means “gnosis,” “secret knowledge,” or “revelation.” And indeed, IRFAN’s music is an invitation for a mystical trip in and beyond time, a message poetically revealed in the language of the heart.
Since 2003, IRFAN has been a renowned artist of the French label, PRIKOSNOVENIE, with three released albums and several movie and theatrical soundtracks so far. Over the last decade, IRFAN has toured with great success across Europe (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, etc.) and has been acclaimed at some of the main European Gothic, Neo Folk, Medieval, and World Music festivals and events (including Wave-Gotik-Treffen, M’era Luna, Summer Darkness, Festival-Mediaval, Castlefest, Folkwoods, Colours of Ostrava, Entremuralhas, to name but a few).
In 2015, IRFAN released its new album “The Eternal Return,” which was highly appreciated by critics worldwide and was proclaimed “the album of the year” by Side-Line Magazine and rated the № 1 position in its TOP 20 of the best albums of 2015.
Band Members:
Ivaylo Petrov – oud, baglama saz, tambura, setar, sitar, santour, programming
Kalin Yordanov – vocals, daf, bodhran, darbouka
Peter Todorov – darbouka, zarb, riq, electronic percussion pad
Yasen Lazarov – kaval, nay, duduk, harmonium
Featuring:
Darina Zlatkova – vocals; Denitza Seraphimova – vocals
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Irfantheband
Music label: http://www.prikosnovenie.com/groupes/Irfank.html
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzD9LJgA1i6UcVlT1RDvMBg
BandCamp: https://irfan.bandcamp.com/album/the-eternal-return
Booking contact: irfan.booking@gmail.com
