For the first time Bulgaria’s Liberation Day - March 3 will be marked with a big concert marathon. From morning to the evening people could enjoy only Bulgarian music performed by about 20 renowned choirs and orchestras in the Bulgaria Concert Complex downtown Sofia. The opening will take place in the big Bulgaria Hall at 11 am with a concert of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and the Svetoslav Obretenov National Philharmonic Choir. The concerts in the chamber Bulgaria Hall start at 12 o’clock.

The idea for this true celebration of Bulgarian music came from Svetlina Terzieva - violinist and manager of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and leader of the organization team. Here is what she told Radio Bulgaria:

“This is a nice occasion for musicians who play Bulgarian music to get together and pay tribute to their predecessors. I think that this is something our society lacks – keeping the memory of composers and performers - the people in whose footsteps we now tread. Unfortunately, these days we have been performing Bulgarian music not very often. I wanted to include music from the Bulgarian Revival period in this concert, dedicated to March 3. With great surprise I found out that there were no arrangements for orchestras of these popular songs. Slavil Dimitrov - chief conductor of the Svetoslav Obretenov National Philharmonic Choir made arrangements of some of the most famous songs especially for the upcoming concert. We are grateful to all cultural institutions in Sofia that paid a lot of efforts to participate, despite the short deadlines for organization of the event. Among them are heads of the "Nadezhda" and "Iskar” cultural institutions;  conductor of the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, Plamen Djurov, the Bulgarian Choral Union and its Chairwoman Galina Lukanova, prof. Emil Yanev, and many others. I am extremely happy because people will hear Bulgarian works that have not been performed for a long time. We have not forgotten the Sofia Brass Band with conductor Yuli Damyanov, the Brass Band of the Police Academy and others... Professors and students at the New Bulgarian University and the National Academy of Music will also join the festive concert."

The "Christina Morphova" Chamber Ensemble, "Te Deum Adoramus" Chamber Choir and the St. Sofia – Bulgaria Choir Association with conductor Valentin Bobevski as well as several other formations, will be also performing Bulgarian songs. 
 
The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra will also have another participation - a concert in which soloists will be Kalina Hristova - violin, Theodosius Spasov - kaval and Victor Chuchkov - piano. World-renowned chamber ensemble Sofia Soloists and the Sofia String Quartet with  guest conductor Georgi Patrikov have decided to remind us of one of the masterpieces of Bulgarian composing - Concerto for String Orchestra and String Quartet by Marin Goleminov written in 1963 

"For me, music is not just my favorite art,” says Svetlina. “It is a means of creating a community. I am convinced that the meaning of our work is to make people happier and society - more united. In the concert hall differences between people vanish and there is no matter who is rich and who is poor. All are equal. Therefore, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra constantly organizes concerts during Bulgarian national holidays. We have a lot of ideas that will allow us to participate more actively in the cultural life of the capital city. We have been trying to reach out to different genres in order to create a music community with the "Bulgaria" Concert Hall being its natural center. We are glad that the Bulgarian National Radio accepted our invitation. Fans of Bulgarian art will be able to hear the performances of the wonderful Big Band and Folk Music Orchestra of the BNR.”

English: Alexander Markov