Nigel Kennedy will once again visit Bulgaria in concert. The fans of the extravagant virtuoso are looking forward to his appearance at the National Palace of Culture on 17 Sept. and at the Antique Theater in Plovdiv on 18 Sept. The program is remarkable. Its first part includes works by Georgi Andreev especially arranged for the occasion, as well as performances of the London Bulgarian Choir.

The idea for this get-together of two cultures has come from a Bulgarian based in London - violinist Ivo Stankov, founder of the Festival of Bulgarian Culture in the British capital. Earlier this year Stankov suggested the idea of a mixed concert to Nigel Kennedy and his band. Known for his affinity to Balkan music the celebrity violinist gladly agreed. Nigel Kennedy will play solos in Georgi Andreev's works. In two of them he is going to play together with the talented composer who is also an attractive gadulka (rebec) player.

"Every piece has a specific sound, as I have combined melodies from different regions of Bulgaria, and from the Balkans”, Andreev says. “The two concerts will be with the accompaniment of Sofia Symphonics orchestra conducted by Ljubka Biagioni. We will present the first part of the program in London on 25 Oct. in the large hall of Barbican Center. There we will play together with the Philharmonic Orchestra London conducted by Rossen Milanov. The violin-gadulka partnership is very interesting. At times the violin imitates the gadulka and vice-versa. I should like to invite everybody who love crossovers in music. The concerts will be very surprising.”

Georgi Andreev also said that Nigel Kennedy has himself chosen the works that are part of music-dance shows, namely Gypsy Party, Southern Sea and Aegean Dances (from The Legend).

The audience is also looking forward to the performances of the London Bulgaria Choir. „One-third of participants are Bulgarians based in London, and the rest come from England, Scotland and other European countries”, explains the choir's conductor Dessislava Stefanova.

„They just want to sing our songs,” she goes on to say. “Our repertoire is exclusively Bulgarian - arrangement of folklore and orthodox chants. Our singers are moved and inspired by the specific Bulgarian vocal techniques and the content of songs. They love to create together the strong resonance typical of Bulgarian arranged folk songs.”

The choir has prepared two orthodox chants, an acapella version of the Rhodope song Devoiko mari hubava arranged by Gencho Genchev and four songs in folklore style by Kiril Todorov. Based on songs about two major folklore feasts, Midsummer and Christmas, the choir will sing The Bulgarian Four Seasons, a parallel to the great work by Antonio Vivaldi that Nigel Kennedy has called The New Four Seasons.

English: Daniela Konstantinova

Audio contains the following pieces:

1. The Amazons, music by Georgi Andreev

2. Horo scherzo kalushari, music by Georgi Andreev

3. Byalo Rade, London Bulgaria Choir