Lyuben Dossev was born in Pleven, North Bulgaria, in 1953. Following in the footsteps of his father Tsvetan Dossev, the kaval player for the Severnyashki Ensemble, Lyuben started to play the kaval as a small child. As early as the 7th grade, he was recruited by youth folk camps to teach kaval to younger children. After Lyuben graduated from the Pleven Music High School, he moved to Plovdiv to attend the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts. During this time, he was one of the founders of the vocational music high school in the town of Shiroka Lûka in the Rhodopi mountains, the first of its kind in Bulgaria. Lyuben received his Bachelors degree from the Academy, and has been teaching there ever since; he later went on to earn his Doctorate degree from the Academy, with a dissertation entitled: "Typical Methods of the Thracian Kaval Playing Style." He has taught nearly all of the current generation of Bulgaria’s best-known kaval players and has been a mentor for many young musicians, as well as colleagues at the Academy. In 2004, Lyuben was elected Dean of the Department of Music Folklore, Choreography and Arts, at the Academy. During the past 10 years, he has taught kaval numerous times at folk camps in the USA and has collaborated with dance teacher and choreographer Iliana Bozhanova on teaching tours to many countries and on the series of recordings, “To the Bulgarian Folklore with Love” Lyuben is the Program Director of the Summer Folk Music & Dance Seminar held at the Academy in Plovdiv.