“I'm really happy when I had that elusive feeling called enjoying music,” says Peter Raltchev. The accordionist is famous all over the world. He has fans in Europe, USA, and Asia. In the Balkans he is a true legend. For more than a decade he has been working with musicians of various nationalities. He performs Bulgarian folklore and takes part in ethno and jazz bands. We can find information about his contribution in the French encyclopedic book "History of the Accordion" (1991) by Francois Billard and Didier Roussin. In recent years he often performs with jazz sextet "Lobby" created by drummer Stefane Galland. Part of the band is Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan and several other famous musicians. In 2014 they took part in a series of jazz festivals in Belgium, France and Algeria.

One of my professional challenges in recent years has been participating in a klezmer band, says Petar Ralchev and adds:

“Maybe not everyone knows the details but this is the music of Jews in Eastern Europe. Of course, over the years they were influenced by peoples with whom they lived together. We got together thanks to the idea of ​​Alan Bern (pianist, accordionist and composer from USA, who lives in Europe). He decided to compare two styles that once existed simultaneously on the old continent. These are the klezmer and the music of the gypsies in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine. For the first time we played at a festival in Helsinki, Finland. Since then, we have been constantly receiving invitations to take part in various music forums. Working with these musicians as well as the band of Stefane Galland is an honour for me.”

Before Peter Raltchev discovered the beauty of klezmer music he used to include in his repertoire songs influenced by various cultures.

“The most important is to love what you do,” says Peter Raltchev. “One also needs to constantly develop and improve. And at the heart of everything lies the love of music. You have to live with it. Sometimes I do not play for days, but the thought of art is not leaving me alone. When I was 5 years old I learned from my uncle my first accordion melody. Then I studied with Kostadin Milarov in Pazardzhik and in the music school in Plovdiv. I have never thought of choosing another profession. The greatest happiness is when you take pleasure in the performance. It is important to make the audience react to the emotions and to what is happening on stage, which is very exciting.”

English: Alexander Markov