Bulgarian radio recording awarded at international folk music competition Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix 2011

published on 3/29/11 1:02 PM

Photo: Radio Bulgaria

Bulgarian radio recording awarded at international folk music competition Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix 2011

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Two years ago, the Slovak National Radio became the host of the prestigious forum of folk music Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix. This is an international competition featuring the best recordings of authentic and arranged folk music made by radio stations in countries that are members of EBU (European Broadcasting Union).
This year, the competition was held at the Bratislava Radio from March 23 to 25. Some 60 folk music recordings from 19 European state-owned radio companies took part, including the Bulgarian National Radio. The piece Slow melody and round dance from the Strandja Mountain performed by Bulgarian bagpipe player Stamen Gardjev strongly impressed the jury and was awarded with the Special prize Grand Prix for best performance of authentic folklore and best bagpipe performance. The recording proposed by music editor Valentin Atanasov from the Hristo Botev program of the Bulgarian National Radio, who is also member of the international jury, is one of the best recordings made at the national radio in 2010.

30-year-old Stamen Gardjev was born in the town of Sredets, Southeastern Bulgaria. He studied at the folklore school in Kotel and later graduated the Music Academy in Plovdiv, and then left for the US where he lived for seven years. “We met him at the festival in the Strandja Mountain several months after he had returned from the US”, music editor Valentin Atanasov told us. “He is an exceptionally talented performer who has preserved his technique and everything he had learned in his native town. His performance is stylish, masterful and most of all, authentic and representative of the traditional folk music from the Strandja folkloric region”.

From 1970 to 1993, the radio competition in Bratislava was entirely devoted to authentic folklore. Famous Bulgarian musicians have been awarded there throughout the years, such as singers Boyka Prisadova and Elena Bozhkova, the folk group from the village of Banya, rebec player Atanas Valchev, bagpipe player Peycho Peychev, and others… After a ten-year break, the folk music forum was brought back into existence in 2003 by the Svetsolav Stracina Foundation and quickly grew to be a significant international forum of the Slovak National Radio and the European Broadcasting Union. The Slovak National Radio annually increases the volume of folk music broadcast on its air.

Next we offer the radio recording of the Bulgarian National Radio that was awarded with the prize for best performance of authentic folklore and best bagpipe performance at this year’s edition of Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix. It is Bulgarian bagpipe player Valentin Atanasov with Slow Melody from the Strandja Mountain.

Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova

По публикацията работи: Valya Bozhilova

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Bulgarian radio recording awarded at international folk music competition Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix 2011

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