Ropotamo Co. is a Sofia based collective project funded in 2018. Its core members are Andrea
Cirio (Italy), Simone Civitillo (Italy) , Piero Epifania Osambela (Perù), Lubo Stefanov (Bulgaria),
Eero Turkka (Finland). Other musicians occasionally join the crew in their sessions and gigs.
The group venture is inspired by the metaphor of the river and its course to the sea. The
musicians have experienced through the years different stages of improvisation levels. In fact, at
the origin it was the sound of stuttering wet flow among the stones placed out of the spring.
They come from the cacophonous water moves between the cobbles. Eventually, it is not clear
whether they have reached the sea already, but it definitely feels like they have reached the
smoother flow into the open bend of the river.
Ropotamo Natural Reserve is one of their favorite locations on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It
takes its name from the homonymous river at its estuary.
In the Ropotamo soundscapes, layers of ancestral subconscious are drawing lines of
multicolored horizons. The electronic that penetrates the stones pictures endless fantasies, the
never eroding substance that generates invincible moss, the soft in its eternal wedding with the
hard rock. A full buffet of various tastes challenges the saturated perception into the wholeness
of something further.
Live performance
The collective approaches live performance by building a narrative that is always connected
with the surrounding aesthetic and public of the location. This allows for a performance that can
lasts from one to two hours, and that develops in a progressive manner from ambient, to
downtempo, reaching more up energy dance musicality that embraces the audience in a
communal and unique experience. The genre is mostly electro acoustic, touching moments of
new age, cinematic, world music, disco influences and electronic dance music where groove
and rhythm are at the core of every performance. That is why our instrumentation consists of
drum machine, loop machine, synths, flutes, electronic guitar, vocalisations, jaw harps and live
percussions
With the financial support of the National Culture Fund, Festivals 2024 program.
Photo and video: Ropotamo Co