Irfan

Irfan is a Bulgarian music band. Its name is borrowed from the Sufi terminology and can be translated from Persian and Arabic as "gnosis", "mystic knowledge" or "revelation". Irfan's music is an invitation for a mystical trip in and beyond time, a message, poetically extended in the language of the heart. World reviews are hesitant about the genre categorization of Irfan's music, determining it as Neoclassical / World Music / Sacred Music / Ethereal Music / Heavenly voices. Indeed Irfan's music is a World Fusion and it is influenced by the sacred and folk music traditions of Bulgaria, the Balkans, Persia, Caucasus, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as by the musical and spiritual heritage of Byzantium and Medieval Europe, yet it retains its own original sound. The musicians use traditional instruments and vocal techniques from the same regions and historical periods. 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 (Bulgarian, Balkan, Oriental, Persian, Indian) and medieval European string, wind and percussive instruments like oud, saz, tambura, santoor, viola da gamba, harmonium, kaval, duduk, nay, darbouka, daf, bodhran, zarb and riq that are woven into a delicate electronic dark ambient sound.
Irfan is founded in 2001 as a side project of musicians from Bulgarian bands like "Isihia", "Kayno Yesno Slonce ", "Om" and "Zarathustra", but soon it became a new, independent and promising music team. The band was first signed by the French label "Prikosnovénie" and made its debut appearance on "Prikosnovénie"'s Fairy World compilation of various medieval and heavenly voices bands in 2003. "Prikosnovénie" declared the Bulgarians as the "discovery and revelation for 2004". Ifran's debute (self-titled) album was also released in Europe that same year by "Prikosnovénie", and released in North America by "Noir Records" in 2005. In November 2007 Irfan released its second album ("Seraphim") for the French label "Prikosnovénie" simultaneously in Europe and in North America (through the US label "Noir Records"). In 2008 Irfan created a soundtrack for the Bulgarian documentary "The Great Heresy" (dedicated to the history of the Medieval European heresies - the Bulgarian and Byzantine "Bogomils" and the Southern-French "Cathars") released recently by the Bulgarian TV Channel bTV. In 2009 the band released 3 songs for the soundtrack of the Bulgarian movie "Forecast".
Between 2006 and 2011 Irfan worked with several different female vocalists who replaced Denitza Seraphimova after her withdrawal and with whom the band performed live during this period. From 2003 until now Irfan toured and performed live in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Potugal, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria.
Currently the band is working on its third album.



Management/Booking: Music Target Management: musictargetmanagement@gmail.com, Wings of Destiny (Germany, Austria, Switzerland): olaf@wod.de, irfan.booking@gmail.com