Release date: 13 November 2026
NMC Recordings announces the release of Stone Trail, available on 13 November 2026, a new album of chamber works by Dobrinka Tabakova performed by musicians from the Off the Beaten Path Festival and shaped by themes of landscape, memory and human connection.
Running through the programme is the image of stone: enduring, elemental and quietly expressive. From mountain moraines and ancient mosaics to worn village cobbles, stone carries traces of time and human presence, preserving stories across generations. Throughout these works, places, materials and musical ideas persist, transform and re-emerge, connecting landscape with memory and shared experience.
Written over almost twenty-five years, the works are variously inspired by ancient bird mosaics, Bulgarian folk music, and Renaissance prayer settings. Several works also touch, more indirectly, on the recent histories that have shaped Eastern Europe. The democratic changes of the late twentieth century form an unspoken backdrop to this music, making possible the collaborations and friendships at its heart.
Described by the Washington Times as a composer of "exciting, deeply moving" music, Dobrinka Tabakova is one of the leading voices in contemporary composition. Stone Trail follows her 2025 ECM release, winner of the 2026 BBC Music Magazine Premiere Award, and her Grammy-nominated debut album String Paths. Born in Plovdiv and based in London since 1991, Tabakova's music has been shaped by an awareness of tradition and an ongoing search for connection across cultures, landscapes and time.
At the heart of Stone Trail are people: performers, collaborators and long-standing friendships. Bringing together musicians from the Off the Beaten Path Festival, the recording reflects a shared commitment to new music and to reaching audiences beyond traditional cultural centres. Their work resonates closely with Tabakova's own artistic journey, shaped by an awareness of tradition and an ongoing search for connection across borders and time.
Dobrinka Tabakova
Off the Beaten Path Musicians:
Lora Tchekoratova, Georgy Valtchev, Nikola Takov, Rumen Cvetkov, Alexander Somov, Alexander Fiterstein, Mariana Karpatova
Format: CD, download, streaming
FUNDERS
RECORDING CREDITS
Recorded 7-10 August 2024 in the Great Hall, National Academy of Music ‘Prof. Pancho Vladigerov’, Sofia, Bulgaria.
STEPHEN PORTNOI Producer and Sound Engineer
DOBRINKA TABAKOVA Assistant Producer
KAROLINA KOYNOVA Assistant Engineer
NMC Recordings is a charitable company (reg. no. 328052) established for the recording of contemporary music by The Holst Foundation.
© NMC Recordings Ltd 2026
Catalogue number: NMC D297
