The National Palace of Culture is marking a strong tradition-oriented beginning to the New Year. In the second week of 2002, NDK will host a concert of one of the most popular varieties of folklore music in Bulgaria - Macedonian. The Gotse Delchev Ensemble will perform authentic songs from the regions of Aegean and Vardar Macedonia in Hall 2 on Wednesday at 6pm.

The concert, entitled Pirin Tunes, will present 20 songs based on authentic folklore motifs of the region but arranged by contemporary Bulgarian musicians.

"We want to revive traditional Bulgarian folklore and especially Macedonian songs," said Margarita Nedkova, manager of the ensemble. "We are the keepers of authenticity."

Nedkova said the concert is a natural continuation of the Pirin Fest, which has been organised annually since 1997. "Pirin Fest was popular as the festival of folk music," she said. "But with the start of the Pirin Folk festival, a competition of pop-folk singers, people got confused and could not separate real from fake."

"The concert is in reply to the chalga, pop-folk music, which has been flooding the market," said Petar Konstantinov, chairman of Mati Bolgaria society, which is the initiator and organiser of the event. "This is an expression of our organisation's ambition to oppose all falsification of Bulgarian folklore and to bring back to life authentic Macedonian music."

The Gotse Delchev Ensemble is the only troupe in Bulgaria which performs exclusively Macedonian music. Founded 57 years ago, the ensemble consists of a dance troupe, female choir, Orthodox music choir and orchestra. It was initiated by Bulgarian refugees who came from Aegean and Vardar Ma-cedonia after it was separated from Bulgaria.

The ensemble recording its fourth CD. "The concert will also be a kind of promotion for our new album," Nedkova said.

The songs of the Gotse Delchev Ensemble can also be heard on TV. They have a weekly show on the Kabel 2001 cable channel, which is broadcast every Saturday at 10pm.

Invitations for the Wednesday concert can be obtained at the NDK box office.