The “Ourkouzounov Duo” was formed in 2001 by Bulgarian guitarist-composer Atanas Ourkouzounov and Japanese flutist-improviser Mié Ogura, thanks to their shared passion for Bulgarian folk music represented by master musicians such as Theodossi Spassov, Ivo Papasov and Petar Ralchev. 
Based in Paris, over the course of their 25-year career, the duo has dedicated itself to bridging the gap between classical, contemporary, folk and jazz music, through its unique style of original compositions and arrangements and improvisation, interpreting their two broad sound palettes with nurtured virtuosity. This creative trajectory successfully betrays the conventional image of a flute and guitar duo. The duo has recorded six CDs, including “Legends”, presented by Japanese guitarist Shin-ichi Fukuda, which was selected as “best record of the month” in Japanese “Record-Geijutsu” magazine (March 2007), as “an astonishing self-creation and re-creation of masterpieces”. 

He has performed regularly and worldwide, at the National University of Music in Vienna (Austria), the Omni Foundation performing arts in San Francisco, the Manhattan School of Music in New York (USA), Columbus University Georgia (USA), the Royal Palace in Stockholm (Sweden), the National University of Music in Weimar and the National University of Music in Hamburg, the Iserlohn, Landsberg, Niedenstein and Passau Guitar Festivals (Germany), the Montreal Guitar Festival (Canada), the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels (Belgium), the Pleven International Guitar Festival (Bulgaria), the Valencia National Flute Convention (Spain), the Bratislava Chamber Music Festival (Slovakia), the “Hors-Saison Musical” concert series (France), the Ligita Festival (Liechtenstein), Meisinger Music Festival (Poland), Thessaloniki and Calamata Guitar Festivals (Greece), Johan Halvorsen Chamber Music Festival (Norway), Sinaia and Targu Mures Guitar Festivals (Romania), Karuizawa Sony Music Foundation Festival and Konakara-Kishiwada Music Festival (Japan) etc... Invited to major festivals of various styles or to university music establishments in twenty countries. (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, USA, Canada, Japan) 

The “Ourkouzounov Duo” invited Petar Ralchev, accordionist, one of the greatest masters of Bulgarian traditional music, accompanied by Peyo Peev (Gadulka), on the occasion of the Antony International Festival in 2019, then formed the “Trio Ralchenitsa” until 2023. 

The “Trio Ralchenitsa” (bridge between Bulgaria and Japan), was selected among the international exchange projects of the “Japan Expo 2021 Memorial Fund Cultural Exchange Grant”. 
Unfortunately, due to the Covid pandemic, the Trio was unable to travel to Japan, but was able to organize an educational program for the twenty primary and middle schools (3,138 pupils) in the towns twinned with Bulgaria, Murayama (Yamagata prefecture) and Munakata (Kitakyushu prefecture), and Mié's hometown, Tadotsu (Kagawa prefecture), where they listened to Bulgarian music at lunchtime and enjoyed a Bulgarian menu. The event gave Japanese children the opportunity to discover Bulgarian culture through music.
  In addition, an online concert was organized from Pleven in Bulgaria, recorded and broadcast by Nikolai Mihaylov. The concert was published on a CD commemorating the project. 

Finally the “Trio Ralchenitsa” has demonstrated in Europe the fusion of Western written music and authentic “oral-improvised” folk music, at the Pleven Guitar Festival in Bulgaria, the Plovdiv Guitar Art Festival, the Arhus and Copenhagen Guitar Festivals in Denmark, and many others.