If somewhere high in the Rila Mountains, among the songs of birds and the rippling stream you overhear the gentle tug on the harp strings, do not be surprised! For the third day now, in the mountain resort of Borovets the harp blends its timbre with the sounds of nature. Amateurs and professionals united by their love for this ancient instrument learn technique and interpretation, stage performance, improvisation. And all this - thanks to the tireless efforts of famous Bulgarian harpist Angela Madjarova.

She made her first steps in the National Music School in Sofia and Pioneer Youth Philharmonic, then she developed her skills in the environment of world musicians and made an international career with a repertoire from Baroque to contemporary music. One of her objectives today is to promote the harp, so for the second time this year she gathers connoisseurs of this instrument in the summer academy. “The idea is to learn from Bulgarian harpists who work around the world and come home every summer. This will provide for continuity between generations”, says Angela.

The youngest and oldest participants in the academy experience the same degree of enthusiasm for their favorite instrument.

"I love the harp because it has a very gentle sound and resembles a princess. When I grow up I want to become a neonatologist but I will keep the harp as my favorite hobby”, says 9-year-old Lora Karapancheva who never misses her weekly music lesson in the capital although she lives in Samokov.

Almost 60-year-old Rozabela Chan has arrived all the way from Hong Kong to Borovets: “I come here for the second year to study with Angela Madjarova. I like this instrument very much and I think it has an angelic sound. In the Academy relations are so warm, I feel among friends. It is very inspiring and I have decided to come back here every year.”

Some of the participants both Bulgarians or foreigners come from Brazil, Dubai, Italy, Greece, UK, to devote themselves to jazz, classical and contemporary music. Angela Madjarova explains:

“We are three speakers. Iveta Milevska teaches jazz harp and improvisation. She is a classic harpist, but later specialized as a jazz performer. She lives and works in France, just as our second lecturer Juliana Tochkova. She is a composer and harpist. In her classes she focuses on music of the twentieth century. The third lecturer is me - I deal more with the orchestral difficulties because I have experience with classical repertoire in the orchestra as well as a chamber musician and soloist. Best among all participants is that all their lives they have dreamed of playing the harp, they have not given up and have made their dream come true. In the 21st century the instrument cannot be considered more of an aristocratic pastime - especially the Celtic harp, which is not expensive. There is huge repertoire for it and one can devote to it professionally or as an amateur player for life."

Jana Doynova and Rossitsa Milevska are on both sides of the training process - the one as a student and the other as a professor.

“I enrolled in the academy because it gives a chance to each of us to see where the others have reached, to share experiences and to get a different view of one's own performance”, says Yana. “It is a big opportunity that we have a composer of contemporary music. From it we get great advice for interpretation. We feel like in paradise here - harps, a river, we are surrounded by nice people.”

“It is a great idea to organize the event in nature", Rossitsa Milevska adds. We have gathered here to enrich each other. In terms of jazz my students have good ideas and are willing to invest a lot of themselves in order to get a good result. It is true that they are still making their first steps, but one always starts somewhere.”

On the first day of the summer academy, the teachers played in front of their students who will return the gesture with a small concert on July 30 in Samokov.

English Rossitsa Petcova