The international piano music festival ppIANISSIMO opened on April 13 with a piano performance by Ricardo Descalzo (Spain). There followed a jazz concert by David Hellbock Trio from Austria and the “Mosaic” Program, which presented 39 works by authors from 39 countries in the performance of students and from the Pancho Vladigerov National Music Academy. “These are some kind of music “short messages" - this common form of communication in our busy everyday life, says Prof. Borislava Taneva, author of the idea for this project and the first performer of the one-minute plays. The project is being implemented jointly with the Bulgarian-Swiss Cultural Association, based in Geneva. The program has already been presented in France and Switzerland. After the concert in Sofia the program will tour Bulgarian cultural centers in Vienna and Bratislava.

“Next weekend there will be three workshops held in the Music Academy and three concerts in the Bulgarian National Radio,” Prof. Taneva, who is one of the main organizers of the event, says. “Since the creation of the festival we have been partners with BNR and we are very grateful for the invaluable cooperation. On April 20th we will hear the Diagonal duo – Anka Zlateva (harpsichord ) and Adam Orvad - accordion. They will perform several works written for this seemingly strange tandem of instruments. In fact, the sounds of the instruments combine quite well. The program includes two premieres of Bulgarian works by Georgi Arnaudov and Noris Getov. Adam Orvad will also hold a contemporary accordion music workshop. Students will also meet Marcel Worms from Holland and his piano recital is scheduled for April 21st. The Sunday concert (April 22) is very different from what Pianissimo usually offers. Young soprano singer Mila Mihova and Nikolay Stoykov (harpsichord) will perform original songs by Icelandic pop and rock star Bjork. I'm expecting a very interesting concert.

On 27 April, there will be a recital by Hayk Melikyan (Armenia), who is an outstanding pianist. He presents works by Armenian composers, Xenakis and Stockhausen, as well as Andrey Diamandiev and Peter Kerkelov. On April 28 there will be two concerts. The first will be of SILAKBO ensemble, which includes artists of different nationalities. On the same day organist Dariusz Przybylski will hold a concert at the Pancho Vladigerov National Music Academy.

I want to point out that preserving a twenty-one-year-old music festival is a really serious effort, but it's worth it. I am happy that I was part of the team at the time of its foundation. After Prof. Stella Dimitrova, founder and longtime artistic director of the forum, decided to pass the ball to "the younger", it was me andIlia Gramatikov who started working on the organization of the forum. We work with a very small team, including Gergana Nestorova, Margarita Ilieva and Eliana Zaharieva of the Bulgarian National Radio.”

The final concert of "Pianissimo - 2018" is that of the HYPER DUO from Switzerland, on April 29, in Studio 1 of the Bulgarian National Radio.

English: Alexander Markov