October 1 – holiday of Bulgarian singers and music

In 1980, October 1 first proclaimed official holiday of all Bulgarian singers and musicians. On this day, the famous medieval Bulgarian composer St. John Koukouzeles was born. He was called the Angel- voiced for his incredible singing talent. He is one of the most prominent names of Byzantine church music. A founder of new notation characters and new notational signs, he retained only twenty-five of the old ones. According to his life-story, he was of Bulgarian origin and was born in the town of Dirahia (duratza) in the XIV century. As a child he live in Contantinople, where he received elite education in the court school. His talent was highly esteemed by the emperor. At one point of his life, however, he secretly left Constantinople an went to live in Sveta Gora, where he became a monk in the St. Atanasius Atonski monastery. He spent the rest of his life there.