The beautiful landscapes along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and the low cost holidays are not the only things that bring people from all corners of the planet to our climes. Enthusiasts from countries like Russia and Finland plan their holidays here, in Bulgaria, so they may coincide with one event – the Theotokos – It Is Truly Meet International Festival for Orthodox Music. The idea for this festival came into being in 2003 and this June it will have its 12^th edition in Pomorie. The opening is on 10 June: the forum invariably coincides with Theotokos – It Is Truly Meet, marked by the Orthodox church on the following day. The festival’s artistic director Yordanka Toudjarova says:

“It all began with a dream that was embraced by three institutions and the Sliven bishopric, thanks to His Eminence, Metropolitan Bishop Yoanikii. The municipality also joined in – the mayor of Pomorie back then said it would be a good thing to have a festival of Orthodox music; the Slavyanska Beseda choir also made its contribution to making this dream come true.”

Last year the festival featured participants from six counties, including Bulgaria. This year interest in the festival has grown.

“We have guests from seven countries, with the greatest number of participants being from Bulgaria,” Yordanka Toudjarova says. “We have formations coming from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Serbia and Greece. And this year all choirs are from Christian Orthodox countries, whereas in previous seasons we have had performers from France, Germany, the Netherlands. This year we shall continue to develop a tendency we set down in 2014, when we marked the anniversary of Petar Dinev; now we have the good fortune to be paying tribute to composer Dobri Hristov. We have not made chants composed by him compulsory, our endeavour is to have rules that are not that stringent. If the participants wish to, they may include a chant by the composer in their programme. And we were pleasantly surprised to see that many of the formations actually did so. On the last day of the festival, the mixed choir comprising all participants we put together every time will sing four works by the composer.”

The Gaudeamus academic choir is one of the formations that has never missed a single edition of the Theotokos – It Is Truly Meet International Festival for Orthodox Music. Here is more from its conductor Vessela Geleva:

“We first took part in the festival in 2008. It is an event the choir singers and I really look forward to. It is certainly the most prestigious forum of orthodox music in Bulgaria. I am glad to say that Pomorie municipality always comes up with the money to finance it because the festival is an essential part of the country’s spiritual life.”

By a tradition, every year the International Festival for Orthodox Music goes beyond the territory of Pomorie; on its last day, June 14 there will be special services in the churches in Bourgas and Nessebar with the participation of all of the choirs.

The audio file contains the following works:

-  Cherub song by Dobri Hristov, performed by the Angel Manolov academic choir;

-  Theotokos – It Is Truly Meet byPetar Dinev,  preformed by the Gaudeamus academic choir

-  Blessed Mother of God making a cradle by Dobri Hristov, performed by the Female Choir of the St. Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia.

English version: Milena Daynova