Penka Kouneva (Bulgarian: Пенка Кунева) (/ˈpɛŋkɑː kuːˈnɛvɑː/; born February 25, 1967, in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-American composer, orchestrator and soundtrack producer.
Kouneva has released two award-winning concept albums: The Woman Astronaut (2015, on Varèse Sarabande / Universal Music Group)[1] and A Warrior's Odyssey (2012, on Howlin’ Wolf Records / Sumthing Else)[2] both receiving 5-star press.
[8] In 2004, she began to score TV specials and genre telefilms for the SyFy Channel (Chupacabra: Dark Seas, Ice Spiders, Nuclear Hurricane).
For the Prince of Persia game, Kouneva composed two hours of original in-game interactive score, fusing inspirations of Persian, Indian and Middle-Eastern music with epic orchestra.
In 2013, the Dallas Chamber Symphony commissioned Kouneva to write an original film score for By The Sea starring Charlie Chaplin.
[28] Amongst her notable protégés are the Hollywood composers and orchestrators Philip Klein,[29] Ben Bromfield, Alexandre Cote,[30] Catherine Grealish, Dallas Aimer,[31] Nicolas Repetto,[32] Steven Melin,[33] Amie Doherty, Fred Emory Smith[34] and many others.
Kouneva's arrival to Hollywood was unprepared for the business aspects of entertainment, so she focuses to instructing her protégés to be ready for such challenges.
In 2015, Kouneva established and funded an Orchestral Reading for Duke Graduate Composers with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.
Two graduate composers selected by Duke Music Department will receive a professional reading and recording of their compositions by the nationally recognized symphony orchestra.