Only within the space of a couple of days, the girls from the Cosmic Voices Choir and their conductor Vanya Moneva went through an extremely rich range of emotions. They went to Munich as part of the nominees for the final of the international choral contest "Let the Peoples Sing" together with their excitement from the new concert venues, the inevitable stage fright and the respect for the prestigious competition. They returned victorious, a little tired, but thrilled by the experience, full of impressions and new professional skills. We were able to watch contest live in Bulgaria and to rejoice together with them, albeit from a distance. A day after the return of the choir from Germany we have been talking to Vanya Moneva, the group's conductor.

"For us it was extremely important that the Bulgarian choir received a high evaluation and was admitted to the final of this really big and tough competition. Traditionally the day before the race, on October 10, the major international choral festival "Let the Peoples Sing" took place. It includes all groups nominated for the finals and the winners of the previous edition-carrier of first prize in different categories as well as the winners of the Silver Rose big prize. The atmosphere was exceptional. As if on a film reel we saw before our eyes the current state of choral art in the world. Among the crowd were members of the jury. Every group had twenty minutes to show their abilities and only ten minutes at the contest. Even at the sound check we felt the Cathedral sound of the hall of the Academy of Music and Drama where the festival is held. The sound in the choral hall of the Bavarian Radio where we presented the songs from the contest was different. It demanded from us a very quick reaction to adapt to this stage. During these two days we felt as artists of great class. The high level of the groups, the precise assessment of the jury made our responsibility even bigger but also mobilized us. We are happy that we managed to win first place in the category of folk, jazz and gospel choirs."

Before the participation of the Cosmic Voices choir at the contest, Vanya Moneva studied what was the Bulgarian presence in this competition over the years. The Silver Rose Grand Prix went twice to Bulgarian groups - Rodna Pesen choir with conductor Mikhail Milkov (back in 1968) and the Sofia Chamber Choir conducted by Vassil Arnaudov (teacher of Vania Moneva). First prizes have been won by the Bodra Smyana children's choir, Polyphony Cappella Choir and the Representative children's choir from the town of Dobrich conducted by Zachary Mednikarov. This was followed by two decades in which no Bulgarian choir was among the nominees. The pause was broken by Dragostinfolk - a formation which received very good feedback from the audience and specialists a couple of editions ago.

What is Bulgaria's role in the choral world - the answer of Vanya Moneva:

"With sadness I will say that we are not in the forefront, but I am convinced that we have the potential and the choral singing glory of Bulgaria will be revived. We have our big choral contest "Prof. Georgi Dimitrov" in Varna where Bulgarian groups often win awards. Bulgaria had conquered a prestigious place in choral music, I think success is lying ahead of us. We have good traditions also in new music by Bulgarian composers. In selecting songs for the competition I wanted to show not only the beauty of Bulgarian folklore, but also the Bulgarian choral artistry. I selected true masterpieces created by Krassimir Kyurkchiyski and Ivan Spassov. You ask me if it is difficult to manage a similar group. In Bulgaria the existence of any choir is very difficult, unless it is a state or municipal affiliated group. And here comes the role of the conductor and the motivation of singers. My career path has been thorny from the beginning, but difficulties make me stronger. I go boldly forward because I know that I do art with a pure heart and lots of love. That's how I educate also my choir girls, they are fighters like me. As they say, like parent, like child. We are one with my cosmic girls, they always show high spirit and will."

English Rossitsa Petcova