In 2021 the oldest music academy in this country marks its 100^th anniversary. This remarkable occasion is celebrated with a rich program of major and related events as preparations started last year. We learned more from Prof. Borislava Taneva - a famous pedagogue, composer, performer and vice rector of the Academy.

"The first big event dedicated to the anniversary is on May 22 - the grand opening of the Sofia Music Weeks International Festival," Prof. Taneva says. “All representative ensembles of the Academy will take part - the Big Band, the Student Chamber Orchestra, the Student Symphony Orchestra, the Academic Symphony Orchestra and others. On the same day in the lobby of the Bulgaria Hall the exhibition ‘Musical Memory of Bulgaria - Glory and Traditions’ opens and guests could see it during the whole festival. The second focus of the main program is placed on the work of the Vocal Faculty. With the assistance of the Stara Zagora Opera, our students will present The Elixir of Love in the hall of the Sofia Theater. The performances are on June 25 and 26 and are part of the European Music Festival. The central event is planned to take place on the International Music Day (October 1). In the big concert hall the hymn of the National Academy of Music will be performed, as it was written especially for the occasion by Acad. Vasil Kazandzhiev. Guests will also hear works by Pancho Vladigerov, Liszt and others, performed by our best students. A meeting of the rectors of music academies from Eastern Europe and the Balkans will also take place. During the Doors Open Days (October 29-31) everyone who is interested will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the activities of faculties and with different specialties. The last major event is on November 1 when a concert of our lecturers will take place. The main program also includes master classes of our opera prima Krassimira Stoyanova and Vera Nemirova - one of the most prominent opera directors."

The anniversary will also be marked by the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications with a commemorative stamp, as well as by the BNB, which is preparing a commemorative coin.

"The accompanying program has already started,” Prof. Taneva adds. “We have planned events with the support of embassies, cultural centers at home and abroad. We are planning a concert of famous performers who are also young lecturers. I want to point out that all major festivals in this country will dedicate concerts to the anniversary. Let's not miss the fact that all symphony orchestras and opera houses will provide a stage to our distinguished students at least once a year.”

100 years is undoubtedly a respectful period of time, but there are music academies around the world with much longer history. Nevertheless, the National Academy of Music gives unique opportunities to its students and lecturers, Prof. Taneva, who has studied, taught and led master classes all over in the world, says and adds:

“I can say that the National Academy of Music is a place of high culture and there are objective reasons for that - we have a very rich library, a great team of lecturers, a great sound studio. But above all, we have something that is not often found in the rest of the world - the Academic Symphony Orchestra, which students in music conducting give concerts every week with, while the soloists are representatives of performing specialties. We also have a choir and choir conducting students work with it. I claim that this is an extremely luxurious advantage. We have something to be proud of and something to show to the world.”

English: Alexander Markov

Photos: BNR-library