On February 1 the BOZAR Center for Fine Arts will host in Belgium’s capital Brussels the concert dedicated to the official opening of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. According to the organizers, the programme features major masterpieces of the Bulgarian music heritage, as well as some pieces of the European music repertoire. The Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Festive Overture by Vesselin Stoyanov under the conductorship of Nayden Todorov. The popular Bulgarian band will accompany renowned soloists in the program.

Vanya Moneva, conductor of Vanya Moneva Choir, told Radio Bulgaria details about the event:

“We are very excited and are looking forward to this great event, because this is the official opening of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Besides, the concert will be held at one of the world’s most prestigious music halls. The festive occasion and the venue are quite respectable. The Vanya Moneva choir together with the Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Roots by Alexander Tekeliev. We have also prepared two acapella pieces- Polegnala e Todora (author’s remake by Philip Koutev) and Bre, Petrunko (author’s remake by Krasimir Kiurkchiiski)."

"Two internationally-acclaimed musicians will also participate at this event. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva will perform several arias by Verdi."

"Pianist Ludmil Angelov who is the first Bulgarian awarded with the special prize of the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in 1985 and a laureate of many other awards will take part in Concerto for Piano and Orchestra № 2 by Chopin. I believe that this performance will present our country with dignity and people will be filled with admiration when they talk about it.”

This is a very special moment for Vanya Moneva for two reasons - personal and professional. Several days ago she became a grandmother for the first time. Moreover, her choir started performing under a new name.

“The birth of my grandson Alexander is a great joy for me, because he brought a new meaning to my life. From now on he will be one of my top priorities. As for the new name of the choir, I would like to say that in 2017-2018 music season we have been participating in music events under the name Vanya Moneva Choir. It is a continuation of what we have been doing in the past 23 years since the establishment of this choir (previously named The Cosmic Voices). In Bulgaria we have started appearing under the name Vanya Moneva, but the choir is popular worldwide as the Cosmic Voices. We were registered in the European Union as Cosmic Voices. We have preserved our achievements and the quality of music making over the years. I am among the founders of this choir and I have been conducting it to this day.”

Let us remind that BOZAR Art Center was established after the First World War. The Most Prestigious art space in Brussels covers an area of 33,000 square meters. The National Symphonic Orchestra of Belgium rehearses in the biggest concert hall of the art center. The hall provides wonderful acoustics and has 2,200 seats. The Bulgarian soloists, the Vanya Moneva Choir and the Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra are to make a general rehearsal before the event which is expected to start at 8 pm on February 1.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov