Professor Anatoli Krustev has been convincing me to write this piece for years, Hristo Yotsov says. I finished it several months ago. I am happy that the director of the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra Mr Dyakovski received with enthusiasm the proposal to make the premiere with his philharmonic orchestra. We met twice with the members of the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra to discuss another music project and I am quite impressed by their professional skills and the atmosphere they work in. My friend (chief conductor) Deyan Pavlov offered me to include my piano concert (performed by Nadezhda Yotsova) and dedicate this evening to my 35^th anniversary on stage.

Hristo Yotsov is very popular in Bulgaria and abroad mainly as Jazz musician. His biography is full with successful projects fulfilled together with Antoni Donchev, Hilda Kazasyan, Theodosii Spassov, Miroslava Katsarova and other renowned Bulgarian musicians. In the past two decades Hristo Yotsov has been paying more attention to other music genres as well.

“I think I am a very fortunate person. The pieces I wrote were later performed by important people at important places. Of course, I am mainly talking about the jazz field. Around the year 2000 I started to deal seriously with music for symphonic orchestra. I do it because I feel the need to do it, rather than being driven by any ambitions. I do not consider myself composer. I am a musician who writes music. The process comes spontaneously and fills me with a lot of inspiration and delight. This is rather a game and a pleasure, rather than an obligation.  Almost all my pieces were recorded with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra which makes me even happier and satisfied, because we are talking about a high level of music performance. Things happen so easily, which motivates me to be active. Moreover, I see that people accept my music well and are truly happy with what I do.”

Hristo Yotsov has been working on a musical in the recent months. It is Mr Yotsov’s first vocal and stage work.

It happened thanks to conductor Gancho Ganchev who founded the Varna Children and Adolescent Opera. The group’s activity is quite impressive and it has held a series of successful performances. It is incredible to see how Mr Ganchev hand downs his enthusiasm to children and teenagers and affiliates them with a genre, which is considered by many teenagers as a worn-out and worthless part of music. He asked me to write a musical on the Midsummer Night’s Dream. I was curious to sink into the world of vocal music, because my entire education and career have been entirely in the field of instrumental music. Currently, I am working on a libretto. It is based on Shakespeare’s text and is adapted by director Kostadin Bandutov. It is a big honor to join this team. The premiere will be held on May 31, a day before the official opening of the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov