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Penka Kouneva

Invisible Lifeline

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Penka Kouneva at Saturn Awards discusses #metoo composers with Legion of Leia
Penka Kouneva - A Warrior's Odyssey
1 The Invisible Lifeline  
2 Another Failure  
3 A Shipwreck of Our Plans  
4 Nocturnal  
5 Day of Wrath  
6 Farewell to E  
7 Ascension  
8 Alma Mahler's Daughter  
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If Frederic Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Clara Schumann or Alma Mahler were composing movie themes in the 21st century, what would their music sound like?

Penka Kouneva's new concept album, Invisible Lifeline, is a collection of six intricate piano fantasias and two string orchestral tracks in the Classical style. Each composition tells a story about what motivates the creative artist.

Like the mountain climber on the CD cover, an artist's career is a steep journey. What inspires the artist? What gives them energy to keep pushing forward to create screenplays, stories, music, poetry, dance, video games? Various sources on creativity and inspiration served as a springboard: Game Developers Conference lectures by the visionary designer Jason Vandenberghe on the gamer's motivation; the books Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland and The Tools by Phil Stutz & Barry Michels. The deepest motivation came from Penka's own journey as a woman, wife, mother, artist and composer for film, TV, video games and Virtual Reality. The CD cover art was inspired by The Rise of the Tomb Raider game and by a line from its trailer ("Only through life's adversities we become who we're meant to be").

This is Penka's first collaboration with the international virtuoso Georgi Slavchev who added his own arrangements to the piano tracks. Invisible Lifeline was also inspired by Penka's continued work with her mentor and manager, Victor Rodriguez. This album is a gift for Victor's fiftieth birthday.
Georgi Slavchev, piano soloist

  • Ace Vaptsarov to join composer team at Penka Kouneva Studios / yahoo finance
    Posted At: January 22, 2020 12:00 AM

    Penka Kouneva, the renowned game and film composer of 'exquisite talent' (Forbes) is excited to announce that she has appointed the award-winning composer Ace Vaptsarov to join her composer team at Penka Kouneva Studios, Inc. Penka Kouneva is a Hollywood composer whose music has been called "fantastic" (Billboard) and "breath-taking" (NPR), whose studio span four fields of entertainment (film...
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  • Penka Kouneva is lone female composer in Hollywood Bowl 'America in Space' concert / Los Angeles Times
    Posted At: August 15, 2019 12:00 AM

    In "2001: A Space Odyssey," Stanley Kubrick memorably used classical music by two Strausses - Richard's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and Johann's "The Blue Danube" - forever linking those pieces with outer space. That was 1968. A year later, humanity actually made it to the moon - and for 50 years Hollywood, ironically, has explored our future in the cosmos with music that looks back, in a decidedly classic...
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  • Penka Kouneva discusses 'Invisible Lifeline' with 90.3KEDT - Corpus Christi
    Posted At: June 17, 2019 12:00 AM

    If Frederic Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Clara Schumann or Alma Mahler were composing movie themes in the 21st century, what would their music sound like? Maybe Penka Kouneva's 'Invisible Lifeline,' a collection of six intricate piano fantasias and two string orchestral tracks in the Classical style. Each composition tells a story about what motivates the creative artist. Like t...
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  • WSHU Public Radio discusses Penka Kouneva's diverse portfolio at Game Developers Conference
    Posted At: April 26, 2019 12:00 AM

    Penka Kouneva's diverse portfolio of composing credits include Prince of Persia and Forgotten Sands, as well as numerous film and TV soundtracks, and passion projects like The Woman Astronaut. Penka says learning as much as possible about the client's preferences and their musical goals can save a composer many hours of time that could be better spent actually composing. She also uses a flow char...
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  • Penka Kouneva's Invisible Lifeline is powerful and fascinating / MainlyPiano
    Posted At: April 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Invisible Lifeline is a powerful and fascinating album of eight pieces composed by Penka Kouneva. The album is based on the premise of: "If Frederic Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Clara Schumann or Alma Mahler were composing movie themes in the 21st century, what would their music sound like?" How is that for an original concept? The album is a collection of six solo piano fantasias performed by Georgi Sla...
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  • Penka Kouneva at Saturn Awards discusses #metoo composers with Legion of Leia
    Posted At: July 1, 2018 12:00 AM

    Game & film composer of "exquisite talent" (Forbes) Penka Kouneva scored PRINCE OF PERSIA: FORGOTTEN SANDS, THE MUMMY VR game, and a $30 multimedia NASA exhibit HEROES AND LEGENDS at the Kennedy Space Center. She also composed on Activision's TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN game (with themes by Steve Jablonsky).  Her music is a blend of her Eastern-European upbringing, classical tra...
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  • 2017 GSPO video game concert features - Penka Kouneva & Christopher Tin / GAMASUTRA
    Posted At: June 27, 2017 12:00 AM

    On Saturday, July 15, 2017 at the Historic Los Angeles Theatre, the Golden State Pops Orchestra and full choir perform music from leading video games. The concert features special guest conductors and performers along with projections and a laser light show. World premiere videogame music performances from… Detroit: Become Human (game releases Fall 2017), Gran Turismo (game releases Fall 2017), Wo...
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  • Penka Kouneva - The Woman Astronaut / Interview & Feature on: The Score
    Posted At: October 15, 2015 12:00 AM

    THE WOMAN ASTRONAUT by Penka Kouneva on Varèse Sarabande is an original concept album composed in cinematic orchestral-electronic style. The album has 14 tracks, broken into three acts about the life journey of an astronaut: adolescence and homeland; young adult; maturity.  THE WOMAN ASTRONAUT was produced with Hollywood Studio Orchestra, top LA soloists and choir. A Kickstarter cam...
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  • Penka Kouneva - The Woman Astronaut / GoSeeTalk.com
    Posted At: August 6, 2015 12:00 AM

    Film and game composer Penka Kouneva has worked for 15 years in Los Angeles on a variety of projects from games, to shorts, to feature films. Her own music is a blend of her Eastern-European upbringing, classical training, modern film & game music, and influences ranging from rock, electronica, Medieval chant to non-Western music. A woman composer role model on the vanguard of the risi...
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  • Penka Kouneva debuts 'The Woman Astronaut' / AXS
    Posted At: July 26, 2015 12:00 AM

    FIlm and video game composer Penka Kouneva has returned with her second concept album, The Woman Astronaut, after a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. With fourteen tracks divided into three distinct chapters, The Woman Astronaut musically tells the story of its title character with a lovely mix of orchestra and electronica, taking the idea of a concept record to an out of this world level. ...
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  • Penka Kouneva - The Woman Astronaut / FilmMusicMedia
    Posted At: July 23, 2015 12:00 AM

    Composer Penka Kouneva has been a prominent talent in the film music landscape for many years. She has established fantastic collaborations as an orchestrator working with composers such has Steve Jablonsky, Hans Zimmer and Fil Eisler. Her voice as a composer brings something fresh and inspiring, as is evident once again with her album The Woman Astronaut. In today's industry, getting projects that ...
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  • Penka Kouneva - The Woman Astronaut / Review Graveyard
    Posted At: July 10, 2015 12:00 AM

    The Woman Astronaut is an original concept album composed in cinematic orchestral-electronic style by Penka Kouneva. The album contains 14 tracks (48 min, 07 sec), broken into three acts. It follows the life journey of an astronaut: adolescence and homeland; young adult; maturity.  The album was produced with Hollywood Studio Orchestra, top LA soloists and choir. A Kickstarter ca...
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  • Penka Kouneva - The Woman Astronaut / KQEK.com
    Posted At: July 10, 2015 12:00 AM

    Like her prior album, A Warrior's Odyssey (2012), film and video game composer Penka Kouneva's The Woman Astronaut is a concept album, this time featuring original music inspired by women who've chosen to follow the celestial dream of becoming astronauts, experts in all aspects of flight, scientific experiments, and maintenance of essential gear that helps us see, hear, and learn more about the Earth and...
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