Todor Tsachev has brought his dream all the way from America, but has found grounds for it in the small Bulgarian town of Zlatitsa. Several years of hard work ever since, and now Todor enjoys the results on a daily basis.

On a very special day spent at a stadium in the USA Todor Tsachev fell in love with the American marching orchestras. In 2004 he was there on a student exchange program and got really impressed by the hundreds of American kids who played music and made those complicated figures with their bodies simultaneously. When Todor returned to Bulgaria he was determined to establish his own marching band. However, he would spend 5 years first with the orchestra of the Musical Theatre and the Big Band of the BNR, prior to the start of his door-knocking. School principals in Sofia welcomed him with enthusiasm, but turned their backs on him the moment they heard that money for instruments were necessary. The next portion of disappointment came when he hired a hall at a school, shed public announcements and not a single student showed up at least out of sheer curiosity…

However, Todor didn’t give up – he bought music instruments with his own money and started touring the Balkan foot towns of Chelopech, Pirdop and finally Zlatitsa. The local school principal hailed the idea and the mayor signed a civic contract under one condition – an immediate start.

“Sofia turned out to be a hard nut to crack, but in the countryside I succeeded in only a few attempts. Perhaps kids out there were not oversaturated with different activities and the band appeared to be something new and interesting for them,” Todor says.

The young man selected 16 children, following the number of the instruments, named them Marching Stars and started somewhere below zero, as they didn’t even read the different notes.

“They felt my huge enthusiasm and will and trusted me,” Todor recalls. “However, the motivating process of today’s kids is much different than in the past and so it is the hardest thing to achieve. At the same time one cannot do without it, since the music instrument is another body and you have to work hard at home, in order to master it.”

When the children learnt the major melodies a bit, Todor turned to the America for Bulgaria Foundation, asking for support – they needed uniforms. However, he received much more: money for new instruments with the purpose of the orchestra’s expansion, summer, winter camps and numerous concerts.

The achievements which make the musicians proud include the semi-final at Bulgaria Seeks Talent, their participation in the Bansko Jazz Fest and the concert in the Pirin Mountain at an altitude of 2,000 m at the Okoto Lake The eye). Their greatest success however was achieved in Zurich last year, where they not only played with the best bands, but were the only foreigners, allowed to the unveiling ceremony.

“The instrument playing skill is perhaps the least that they learn with the orchestra,” Todor explains. “I try to influence them and teach them responsibility and self-discipline – basic moral values that will be the prerequisite of their future success. I would say that the band helps the children to discover themselves – we have already managed to solve several seemingly hopeless cases with the behavior of some students.”

Todor invited the school’s tougher bully into the orchestra and made him a drummer. Today the problematic behavior of the boy is in the past. At the same time the shiest boy, who wouldn’t even lift his head up during music classes is nowadays the band’s top showman. “I am really happy whenever they change their attitude for the better,” their head says with pride.

When he settled down in the village of Mirkovo with his wife, Todor Tsachev, 34, had only one child. Today he has no less than four. He says that rural life changed him a lot. “It doesn’t matter where you are if you follow your dreams and if you feel good,” Todor says in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev