The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Entry of the Most Holy  Theotokos into the Temple) is one of the twelve feasts declared great for Christianity. It is marked by both Orthodox Christians and Catholics.

In Bulgaria the feast is celebrated on 21 November and in some other countries, on 4 December. Since 1929 under a decree of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church the feast has been celebrated also as the Day of the Christian Family and of Orthodox Youth.

This year the great Day is honoured with a big choir concert under the motto Virgin Mary Chants. The concert is due on 21 November at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia. It is organized by the Sofia Philharmonic, the Sofia Holy Bishopric, the Union of Bulgarian Composers and the Municipality of Sofia. The program features chants performed by several choirs. The event has been blessed by and will be held under the auspices of His Holiness the Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte who will be welcomed in the hall with the chant Our Father and with Troparion for the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos. They will be performed by the choir at the Faculty of Theology at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia with conductor Lubomir Ignatov.

The audience will listen to new works inspired by Christian themes and included in New Bulgarian Music, the biggest forum organized annually by the Union of Bulgarian Composers. Some of the works will be presented for the first time.

One of them is Cherubic Hymn Mode 10 by Stoyan Babekov, a composer with an exclusive contribution into contemporary liturgical music.

The mixed choir Ave Musica with conductor Tania Nikleva-Vladeva has also prepared a few works to premiere – Duel by Tatiana Tontcheva, Madrigal and Humoresque Mode 1 by Nikolay Stoykov and Prayer by Simeon Venkov.

Taking part in the concert is also the Sofia Priest Choir led by conductor ArchpriestKiril Popov, one of the most productive contemporary composers in this genre, three times winner in the international competition for Orthodox musicSt. Romanos the Melodistin St. Petersburg.

The choir will perform Meet It Is– the favorite chant of Hierodeacon Ignatius, Vasil Levski, on the occasion of his 180^th birth anniversary, andTo Thee, Victorious Leader, an eastern chant dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The female folk choir Dragostin Folk National will present the cycle Religious Songs by composer Stefan Dragostinov – founder and conductor of the choir. In 2016, the cycle reaped great success in Moscow, at the XV Easter Festival organized by Valery Gergiev. The cycle was also presented in the hall of Lubomir Pipkov National High School of Music in Sofia. According to the composer, this music is about the point of intersection between the spiritual messages in the Orthodox music tradition and the folk song patterns deeply encoded in the Bulgarian DNA.

The program will close with the singers from Svetoslav Obretenov National Philharmonic Choir with conductor Slavil Dimitrov. The works selected for the concert are by Sergei Rachmaninov - O Theotokos Ever-Vigilant in Prayer; Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky – Meet It Is; Arvo Pärt- Rejoice, O Virgin Mary and Kiril Popov – a premiere of his Singing Prayer.

The finale of Virgin Mary Chantswill be particularly solemn – glorifying Christian virtues all participants will sing together the Hymn to the Orthodox Christian Youth by Petar Dinev and the traditional Many Years.

English Daniela Konstantinova