The Apollonia Arts Festival began on August 30 with a concert by the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, which this year won the Apollo Toxoforos Award for outstanding contribution to the development of Bulgarian culture and its presentation abroad, awarded by the Apollonia Foundation. The program of the festival in Sozopol traditionally includes all the arts, and the organizers are convinced that they should not compromise, even in the current precarious situation.

"I never imagined that we would not do it”,said Margarita Dimitrova, artistic director ofApollonia.

“Even last year, when the anxiety was of a different type and we did not know what it was, what awaited us. I was absolutely convinced that we should do it and I said to myself - if we miss, due to any circumstances, Apollonia will melt, it will become one of the many festivals and events that did not take place. With a lot of perseverance, with the will and ambition that we have always had, we did it, despite the circumstances, with the thought that everything should be as it always has been – all the arts to be present, presented with the highest quality, with a single condition – all events are held in the open. This is what distinguishes Apollonia 2021. The opening with the concert of the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble was impressive. I do not remember such a quiet audience, not to mention the exceptional Liya Petrova, who was the soloist of the concert. Both the orchestra and she and the conductor Plamen Djurov were at an exceptional height, they had a very strong emotion and excitement, which was conveyed to the audience, which rewarded them with great applause”.

The concert of Liya Petrova, Rumen Tsonev, Alexander Somov, Lyudmil Angelov will certainly remain in the history of the festival (and not only). They live in different countries around the world, but came together for their common project – the Brahms piano quartets. Great instrumentalists with a remarkable solo career, they performed this programme for the first time on the stage of Apollonia, promising to continue their collaboration. The festival continues fully with master classes, book presentations, screenings of Bulgarian films. Visual art is also present.

"The exhibition is one and it is really fantastic”, says Margarita Dimitrova. “An artist so unknown in our country, the young photographer Dimitar Karanikolov, presented his works in the open air, in a very different way. He is an architect by profession, but he travels the world and takes pictures with a drone. Therefore, the photographs were exposed on the ground to be seen from the point of view from which the photographs were taken. Interesting, extravagant and curious, people were amazed. We have, as every year, meetings with the authors of new books, master classes, the films are well attended. This year we have events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the National Music Adaedmy - the first higher education music school in Bulgaria. In fact, all the musicians we present here are affiliated with the Academy. There are many, many talented people in Bulgaria.”

Let's not miss the the concerts in memory of Dimo ​​Stoyanov, the lead vocalist of P.I.F. band and in memory of the opera singer Kamen Chanev – two much loved Bulgarian performers who lost the battle with the coronavirus and left the music stage too early.

"They left a big mark with their art and we decided that we should definitely pay homage to what they did," says the artistic director of the festival in Sozopol. “Apollonia aims to present all those things that we consider mandatory in our cultural life. It shows things that bring joy to the audience, the performers and us - the organizers. The most important thing is to be healthy! And as I like to say - to be vaccinated with art!”

English Rositsa Petcova

Photos: Apollonia Arts Festival