Yuri Yunakov (Saxaphone)
Yuri Yunakov was born of Turkish ancestry in Haskovo, Bulgaria in 1968 and has lived in the United States since 1994. He has mastered the Slavic-Bulgarian repertoire. In 1985 he won third prize in the Second National Festival of Bulgarian Instrumental Music in Stambolovo. He was featured on NBC-TV with saxaphonist David Sanborn. Yuri is a member of Trakija, Ivo Papasov's band movement. He has toured extensively in Bulgaria, Europe, and North America.