If we ask a random person to describe what comes to mind...

If we ask a random person to describe what comes to mind hearing the name “Quartet HYPNOTIC”, he would probably begin by a tentative ‘hmmm four?!’ and that would make a very good foundation. We would applaud him for this promising start and encourage him to elaborate. Now, more relaxed, he would perhaps add images such as ‘beautiful girls’, ‘lots of passion and talent’ and inevitably would conclude with a few final connoisseur touches like ‘long legs’ and ‘string instruments’. At that point we would certainly flood our stranger with kisses and admit that he has come shamelessly close to the truth.

Gergana Alexieva (violin), Maria Noveva (violine), Boryana Bekirska (viola), and Marina Hinova (cello) are the girls who strike us not only with the quality of their music, but also with their fabulous appearance and magnificent live performances. All this certainly didn’t elude the discerning eye of Aziz’s producers, and as a result, HYPNOTIC have been a glamorous part of the Aziz Show Band for almost a year now entertaining us every evening on the silver screen.

As a personal present to Santa Claus, as well as for the male viewers under 80 years of age, the four musicians recorded their first single ‘Libertango’. Italian composer Maurizio Abeni, famous for his work with artists like Andrea Boceli, is guilty for the emotional charge and the exciting interpretation of the tango. Apparently pleased with the result, he decided to proceed with the arrangements for the whole upcoming album of the quartet. We are certainly confident that each and every person over 14 years old, with their eyes and ears open, will await the album release in crushing anticipation and a considerable amount of tickle from the imminent pleasure.

The very first thing an unbiased observer would notice if exposed to a HYPNOTIC live performance would be that they are exceptionally good-looking. When, however, he hears them play he would inevitably have to admit that they are also obscenely talented and appallingly young for the maturity of their music. Not only is each one of them academically trained and had recorded with many of the most popular Bulgarian artists, but all four have also triumphed on numerous international competitions and concerts. One wouldn’t dare imagine what more the viewer may ask for, but as strange as it may sound, all of them are single for they still view themselves as little girls who just love to play.
The violinists in the quartet are Gergana Alexieva and Maria Noveva. Gergana has graduated from The National Music Academy ‘P. Vladigerov’, in the class of Prof. B.Danailov and Prof.A.Stankov. Currently, she is an intern of Prof. Peter Daniel and Prof.Mendelson at the conservatory in Essen, Germany. She has won various awards from national and international competitions, and yet she is ever too shy to talk about their exact number and particulars. Gerry has recorded strings for projects of renowned Bulgarian musicians like Stefan Vuldobrev, Grafa, Irina Florin, Safo, Doni and Neti, etc. She also works full time for the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra and the film music orchestra ‘SIF-309’. She is born under the sign of Cancer and likes experimenting… Experimenting with different styles of music.

Maria experienced her first contact with the violin soon after she had experienced walking. As a result she graduated the National Academy of Music with a Bachelor Degree in the class of Prof. Alexander Ilchev. Currently, she is studying towards a Masters Degree with the prominent violinist Prof. Stoika Milanova. Maria has played with various orchestras in Canada, Germany, Serbia, etc. She is born under the sign of Aquarius, which probably speaks volumes to those obsessed with astrology, but for the rest of us who are normal it is simply obvious that she adores music and has the ambition of composing the future projects of quartet HYPNOTIC.

In string quartets there is always a viola and quite often a princess too. In their case, however, one and the same person embodies both. This person goes by the name of Boryana Bekirska. Boryana is a truly beautiful, slick and gifted viola player. She is also a model. And if this is not enough, she plays the piano and sings since she was seven years old. Despite the numberless model awards and her taking part at the Miss Bulgaria contest, she picked music as her true vocation which ultimately led her to quartet HYPNOTIC. Mid in 2008 she became an irreplaceable member of HYPNOTIC’s long-legged musical extravagance.

The more observant reader of this article must already be asking ‘But who is the mysterious cello player in this quartet?’ The response to that is Marina. Marina Hinova. Anything we may say about her would be no more than a tedious process of reductionism when compared to her actual achievements in music. To name a few, she has participated in the albums of Slavi Trifonov and the infamous KUKU Band, she has played in master classes with world famous musicians such as Prof. Yang Chang Cho (Germany), Prof. Robert Cohen (England), she has also played concerts as a soloist with the ‘Orchestral’ chamber orchestra, the ‘Collegiums Musical’ chamber orchestra, and The Junior Philharmonic Orchestra of Sofia City. Marina is a winner of numerous prestigious awards from national and international competitions and she also is honored with a Peace Messenger diploma by the United Nations. Currently, she studies at the National Academy of Music under the mentorship of Prof. B.
Karakonov, Prof. A. Stankov, and Prof. A. Krastev, while working at the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra at the same time. The brunette is an Aquarius too, which must be great news to all those attracted by women of this sign. She likes to go out and dance with the other girls from HYPNOTIC.

The quartet is an ever more frequent guest on various music entertainment shows. Not long ago we had the delight of seeing not one but two of their performances on Dancing Stars 2008. With the first one contributing a classy touch to Elena Yoncheva’s performance, and the second one at the very final when they showered Orlin’s winning the title with sweeping arpeggios and a blizzard of music.

It is quite possible that the seasoned eye of the fair audience has spotted them on the more significant events of the past few months such as ‘The Sportsperson of the Year’, ‘Lady Bulgaria’, as well as TV shows like ‘Night Flight’, ‘Lady Bulgaria’, ‘Be a Star’,’ Afternoon with TV7’, ‘Elite’, ‘Night Birds’, and music festivals like ‘Apolonia’ and ‘Eurovision’. But even if you don’t quite remember where exactly you saw them last, don’t worry, it is understandable… It is simply because they are everywhere! Their smiles, notes, legs, violins (not necessarily in this particular order), also recently captured in two sensational photo sessions by creative studio ‘Wings’, are all in the spotlight of various fashion magazines, newspapers and other media.

And if we set out to brag it is now certainly much too late to be humble. Stoyan&Elitsa, Dani Milev, Mariana Popova, Axinia and Miro are only a few of the celebrities who invited HYPNOTIC to play on their latest projects. Impressive isn’t it?!

And last but not least, if we were to paraphrase a popular ad from the 90’s: ‘It is certainly possible that there could be a quartet better than HYPNOTIC… Too bad it doesn’t exist!”