Composer Boris Karadimchev is an author of over 100 golden Bulgarian songs. He dedicated part of his enormous creative work to children. If you open a music book for the secondary schools, you will recollect some of his songs. Several generations of Bulgarian children grew with his songs. He wrote the music to 40 movies and over 120 cartoons and documentary films. He confessed that cinema is the magic which obsessed him at the beginning of his career. 

Boris Karadimchev is a very colorful personality with a rich history. His roots originate from the Karadimchev Family of Ohrid (Macedonia). His father was a pilot and his mom was an artist. However, both of them were musicians- his dad played a violin and his mother played a piano. This is why it was no surprise that their son was interested in this art. Boris Karadimchev shared interesting stories of his life to the listeners of RB:

“I had another hobby apart from music- Chemistry. I was impressed by the magic created during the laboratory attempts-you mix some chemicals with other, heat them up and an explosion happens. So, I decided to make a laboratory at home-on the ceiling. A relative who is a Professor in Chemistry gave me some flasks, test-tubes and substances and I was trying to reproduce what we studied at school. However, I continued to play the violin. There is a Russian composer named Borodin who was a composer and a Professor in Chemistry. Are you going to walk on the same road?-my father often used to ask me. He advised me to stick to the violin, saying that no one died from fake tones, but one could seriously get hurt from unsuccessful chemical attempts. I chose the violin after I had a small accident on the ceiling”, he says.

 Boris Karadimchev is among the first composers who helped the Bulgarian bands “The Crickets” and “The Silver Bracelets”. 

Boris Karadimchev graduated the prestigious First Sofia Male High School. “Everything we studied was visualized”, recalls Boris.

“There was a symphonic orchestra in our school where we played alongside famous musicians such as Moris Aladgem. While we were working on the music program of our annual concert, our teacher fell ill. I came up with the idea to grab the baton and replace him, hoping that we would prepare well and make the concert when he returned. Unfortunately, he passed away several days before the concert and I had to conduct it. I liked it a lot. I was only 17 at that time. When I graduated the high school, I chose to deal with music on a professional level. I applied for the theoretical class at the National Academy of Music and was accepted there. I studied “conducting” major.”

One of the most interesting adventures of the composer happened during his student period. At the Music Academy he studied harmony under the guidance of Professor Parashkev Hadzhiev who contributed a lot to his development in professional and personal level. He urged Boris Karadimchev and his girlfriend to get married and became their best man. Parashkev Hadzhiev advised him to continue with his studies at the Academy after his graduation and choose the “composition” major in the class of Professor Pancho Vladigerov who is one of the classics of the Bulgarian music.

“He was a very colorful personality. I and his other students, among which were Milcho Leviev, Vasil Kazandziev and Ivan Spasov, often gathered to imitate him. His son Alexander Vladigerov was the best one. We were spending our time together and went to music lessons together. It was fun. The first attempts of Boris Karadimchev in pop music regarded orchestra pieces, performed by the “Jazz of the young people” band in the 1950’s. Later he started to write songs. 

The talent and passion for music made him continue working and writing music in all music genres and to transfer his knowledge and skills to the students and children who study in this field. He established the Children Choir “Pim Pam” in the 1970’s. Later it turned into a prestigious children music school where over 90 kids study at present.

The children vocal group Pim Pam was one of the participants at the concert which marked the 80th birth anniversary of composer Boris Karadimchev. The audience had the chance to listen to some of his favorite songs performed by Mimi Ivanova, Razvigor Popov, Lubomir Kirov, Kalin Velyov and Konstantin Ikonomov at the stage of the “Tears and laughter theatre” in Sofia. The Big Band of the Bulgarian National Radio conducted by Anthony Donchev was also on stage.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov