The annual Chernomorski Zvutsi /Black Sea Sounds/ Choir Festival was unveiled in the port town of Balchik yesterday. The settlement’s mixed choir of the same name hosts the event. Choir workshops take place traditionally within the frameworks of the forum. This year the formation’s members will work under the guidance of Georgi Andreev (conductor general of the Filip Kutev National Folklore Ensemble), Mikhail Delchev (conductor of several formations in Denmark) etc.

Four pieces have been written exclusively for the festival through the years and those had their world premieres in Balchik. They were performed by festival choirs with Bulgarian and foreign participants. These are Galiovna Pesen /Caress Song/ of Tasho Barulov; Agni Parthene /O Virgin Pure/ and Bogoroditse, Devo, Raduisya /Virgin Mary, Exult/ by Georgi Andreev and Laudate Dominum by Ambrož Čopi. This year Georgi Andreev will adapt some of the most beautiful pieces of Filip Kutev’s repertoire exclusively for his work with the foreign choirs.

The festival has the serious support and cooperation of the town’s municipality and also of its partners – the ministry of culture, the Architectural and Park Complex “The Palace”, the University Botanical Garden – Balchik, the Union of Bulgarian Composers, the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, the Bulgarian Choir Union etc. The contest part of the festival this year has the greatest number of participants so far and also the serious EUR 2,500 in prize money. “We expect a strong battle within the contest program due to the high level of performance of the formations. For the first time the organizational committee of the festival will hand cash prizes to the winners at the separate categories,” artistic director Valentina Georgieva says. Choirs from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Sweden, Ukraine, Romania, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Russia are among the participants this year.

The exclusive guests will have their own concerts outside the official program. These are the Perunika female Choir from Stockholm, Sweden and the Spectrum Acapella Band from the city of Sofia.

All the festive events in the period June 7 – 10 will be directly broadcast online.

“We are happy that the concept has proven itself a success and the festival indeed builds up bridges between nations and cultures. People from all over Europe come to Balchik now, thanks to the Chernomorski Zvutsi event and those fall in love with our beautiful town, wishing to come back to this place again”, Valentina Georgieva goes on to say.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev