The final for 2017 concert of the BNR’s Folklore Music Orchestra attracted huge audience among the festive colorfulness of exciting music events. It was part of the Music in Portraits series with the exclusive participation of Rossen Genkov /rebec/, Krastio Dimov /shepherd’s flute/ and folklore singer Petya Paneva.

“2017 was full of lots of good music for us,” says conductor Dimitar Hristov in an exclusive interview for Radio Bulgaria. “It was a really good year, we had numerous of very successful projects. We are proud of them, since we always find something new to bring joy to the audience with. The concert from the Rhythm of the Balkans series at the Bulgaria Hall was great, as our friends of Macedonia, Serbia and Greece participated there… The Vocal – Instrumental Pictures is another major project. We started the season with it. The magnificent singers of the Filip Kutev National Folklore Ensemble’s Choir took part in it with Georgi Genov as a conductor. For the second year in a row the Folklore Music Orchestra played the works nominated at the New Bulgarian Music in 7/8 contest in the town of Chepelare. A few weeks ago we had a concert on the occasion of the 70^th birth anniversary of Dobrin Panayotov – former conductor of the BNR FMO. We don’t have a single concert without the participation of marvelous soloists. They are all very different. We present them in the best possible way, making them feel comfortable next to us onstage.”

Dimitar Hristov has been conducting the Folk Orchestra of the BNR for the past 6 years. He says that in his work he has been trying to interweave the rich past of the music formation with the striving for newer and more interesting directions in terms of repertoire.

“Many composers and arrangers have worked with this formation – the best, I would say. These are people who contribute to the repertoire’s variety leaving their own trace. I try to provide works from a large variety of authors for each concert, in order to be in harmony with the concept of our orchestra. And the concept implies the development and popularization of Bulgarian folk music. Furthermore, I have additional engagements as an artist. I am currently writing music for a theatre play of the Pazardjik Theatre, dance music for the Armed Forces’ Ensemble of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as for the Madara Folklore Ensemble in the town of Shumen etc. I can hint something on next year’s engagements: we are launching a major project with the Thrace Ensemble which is due to be released in May. The arrangements are a big pleasure for me to work on, but also a burden, as they mean less time with the family.”

Here is what Dimitar Hristov wishes for the holidays:

“We are now carried by the festive spirit of 2017’s final days. We should smile, even in the toughest moments, we shouldn’t forget about the virtues that make us more real and down-to-earth. Last but not least, I would like to wish more love for music to everyone, more listening to Bulgarian folk music and greater care of it, as it is our identity, we can’t live without it…”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev