Ruth Koleva

Think music and Bulgaria is probably not the first place that springs to mind. But it’s definitely got soul and Ruth Koleva is leading the pack. Born into a volatile world of corruption and hardship in post-Communist Eastern Europe, she endured a difficult childhood largely spent without her mother, found salvation in the classics (Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole) and became 'tour-hardened' by jaunts to far-flung destinations such as India and Thailand with her Olympian father.