80 years since the birth of Pasha Hristova

On July 16, 1946, on the outskirts of Sofia, in a modest and ordinary family, the unpolished rose of the Bulgarian pop scene - Parashkeva Hristova Stefanova, was born. Since childhood, people simply called her Pasha and her biggest dream was music and the big stage. She did not receive support from her family - they believed that the best thing for her in those years was to find a job and get married. After graduating from high school, Pasha Hristova started working as a draftsperson at the Institute for Electric Vehicles, but her dream did not fade.

In 1963, a competition was announced for candidates for performers at the Bulgarian National Radio. With great confidence that she would win a place in the two-year program, young Pasha Hristova entered the competition. Although she had no musical education, the jury accepted her into the class of composer Ivan Staykov. She made her first recording in 1966 when she was just 20 years old. The following year, she won third prize at the Golden Orpheus Festival and a little later she signed up to participate in the Pop Song Festival in Sochi and went to Russia. There she won a gold medal and the musicians in Bulgaria were amazed by the recognition and talent of this fragile girl, without any musical academic training.

In 1968, Pasha Hristova was chosen as a soloist of one of the most popular orchestras of that time - the Sofia Orchestra. The dream path became clearer and wider. Bulgarian composers proudly gave her their songs and the burning passion with which she told the most exciting musical stories ignited even more, as if sensing that time would soon stop.

"Pasha Hristova is a phenomenon in Bulgarian music," says Zdravko Petrov, senior music editor at the BNR's "Horizont" program. "She is one of the few Bulgarian singers from those years who mastered dramatic singing to perfection."

Proof of his words are two of the most emblematic songs in her repertoire and in the entire Bulgarian musical history - "Povei, vetre" by Yosif Tsankov and Dimitar Vassilev and "A Bulgarian Rose" by Dimitar Valchev and Nayden Valchev.

Dimitar Valchev – ‘A Bulgarian Rose’

At the "Golden Orpheus" in 1970, the 24-year-old Pasha Hristova sang both songs. "Povei, vetre" won the Grand Prize for Bulgarian Song, and "Edna bulgarska roza" (A Bulgarian Rose) - First Prize. This was an absolute precedent in the history of the competition, which no other performer managed to repeat. In the following year, 1971, the song "Dziwny jest ten świat" in Polish won her the Grand Prize for performers at the international festival in Sopot, Poland. This is one of the greatest international recognitions for a Bulgarian pop singer from the period of socialism in Bulgaria, experts say.

In a recording preserved in the Golden Fund of the Bulgarian National Radio, Pasha told us about her art:

"Being useful to people – I consider this topic as a theme of my repertoire. I don't believe there are young people who are not excited about world events. I think everyone has a duty to be up-to-date. And I strive for this through my art."

December 21, 1971. At 11:40 p.m., a Bulgarian delegation took off from Sofia Airport for Algeria to participate in the celebration of the Days of Bulgarian Culture there and in the recording of a New Year's program for the local television. There were 73 people on board the plane. Shortly after the plane took off, a strong crosswind tilted its wings, one hit the runway, the fuselage split and burst into flames. 30 people lost their lives in the crash, which was described as a national tragedy. Among them was Pasha Hristova, who remained forever 25.

For less than six years in which Pasha Hristova lived her dream, she recorded about 60 songs for the national radio and television and "Balkanton" fund and made Bulgarian music extremely popular in the countries of the socialist bloc.