On October 26 and 27 citizens and guests of the town of Shumen (Northeast Bulgaria) will mark the 120^th anniversary since the foundation of one of Bulgaria’s most successful choirs Rodni Zvutsi. The first music institutions in Bulgaria started to develop in the beginning of the 20^th century and singing from sheet music was introduced at the Bulgarian schools in the late 1850’s shortly before Bulgaria’s liberation from the Ottoman Rule in 1978. By the way, Shumen was the town where students sang from sheet music for the first time under the guidance of young Bulgarian teacher and future dramatist and national revival leader Dobri Voynikov.

Rodni Zvutsi choir was established in 1898 as a male choir, its current conductor Hristo Atanasov told Radio Bulgaria. The male choir started functioning on August 15, 1898 and in 1905 the first female singers joined that choir. Veliko Dyukmadzhiev was the first conductor of the male choir. He graduated in the city of Dresden (Germany). Later, few more conductors worked at the Rodni Zvutsi mixed choir and contributed to its development over the years. In 1961Professor Veneta Vicheva was appointed as conductor of the mixed choired. She conducted one of Bulgaria’s most popular choirs for 50 whole years. During that period the choir won a series of prestigious music awards- the first prize at the Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in Hungary, second prize at the Orlando di Lasso International Choir Festival in Italy, a gold medal at the Latin Troubadours in Greece and many other music prizes. Rodni Zvutsi mixed choir has never interrupted rehearsals or suspended concert performances, even in times of wars and crises. I studied in the classes of Professor Vicheva. I learned a lot from her, but the most important thing she taught me was never to give up and stay true to myself, trust my intuition and what I learned in school. Foreign choirs also take part at our festival. A mixed choir with the Artistic Association of Karşıyaka region, Ismir, is one of the guest choirs that will participate in our celebrations. Lavirint chamber choir from the Serbian town of Zaječar will also arrive for the event. Vardar Mixed Choir from Macedonia’s capital Skopje will also attend the celebrations. Ivan Spassov Chamber Choir from the city of Plovdiv (Central South Bulgaria) will perform in Shumen as well. Zhelezhi Struni (Iron Strings) choir form the town of Razgrad (Northeast Bulgaria) will also join our celebrations. The programme also envisages participations of Yanko Mustakov Choir from the Danube town of Svishtov, Dobrudzhanski Zvutsi Choir from Dobrich, Fortissimo Vocal Ensemble from the coastal city of Burgas, etc. On October 26 at 5.30 pm an exhibition consisting of Professor Vicheva’s personal belongings, music awards, concert posters, costumes and archives of the Rodni Zvutsi mixed choir will be displayed.

Young Bulgarian conductor Hristo Atanasov is currently a PhD at the Shumen University Konstantin Preslavski. He has been conducting the Rodni Zvutsi mixed choir for three years and following the deed of his teacher Professor Vicheva who left a rich music repertoire and a permanent mark in choral music in Shumen. Bodra Pesen children’s choir which was founded and headed for many years by Professor Vicheva will take part at the two festive concerts. In recent years the choir has been conducted  by Denitsa Uzunova.

I started working with Professor Vicheva in 1991 when I became a member of Rodni Zvutsi choir, Denitsa Uzunova told Radio Bulgaria. In 1991 I joined the first music pedagogy class at the Shumen University. When I was still a student Professor Vicheva invited me to become a chorus master at Rodni Zvutsi and Bodra Pesen choirs. The two choirs had their rehearsals in the same hall. They held joint festive concerts and many members of Bodra Pesen later joined Rodni Zvutsi choir. We had a lot of beautiful moments filled with plenty of music. We continued the deed of our great teacher Professor Vicheva, in order to keep and develop the wonderful choral traditions in our town.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov