Daga (rainbow) vocal studio is to have a concert on 30 March, dedicated to three anniversaries – the 30^th anniversary of the musical formation, the 40^th anniversary of Snezhana Polihronova-Karnolsky’s creative work, and the 50^th anniversary of the Sredets culture house.

Daga vocal studio was founded in 1993 by composer Dimitar Karnolsky and vocal pedagogue Snezhana Polihronova-Karnolsky at Sredets culture house, and has operated without a pause to this day. In that time hundreds of talented children and youngsters have performed as members of the formation. The young singers regularly have concerts in Sofia and around the country, have made recordings for public service TV BNT and at the Bulgarian National Radio, have won first places at national contests and festivals and have had concert tours abroad. The young performers from Daga have represented Bulgaria at international forums in more than 30 countries, and have played musical hosts to the festivals Orpheus in Italy, Karnolsky Summer Camp, Magia Italiana and The Crown of Orpheus in Greece.

There are currently 40 children members of the vocal studio, divided into three age groups. Their repertoire includes more than 300 songs of various musical genres – from choir and church music, contemporary arrangements of works by Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi etc., to folklore, pop, rock, folk jazz, rap, R&B. Their singing is monadic or polyphonic (up to 8 voices), but they also add theatrical sketches, dancing or other artistic forms to their performances.

One of Bulgaria’s foremost vocal pedagogues, Snezhana Polihronova-Karnolsky is Daga’s chief artistic director. She has enormous experience in working with children and is a member of international juries in Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Spain, Russia, Latvia, Israel. In the early 1980’s, Snezhana Polihronova-Karnolsky started work as music teacher in Kardzhali, where she headed a school choir of more than 180 children. That was where she founded her first children’s music formation which she called vocal group Daga. 

The interesting repertoire, the children’s excellent vocal training and their artistic stage presence is what quickly earned popularity for Daga in Kardzhali and beyond. It was her work with the children’s group that brought Snezhana together with her future husband Dimitar Karnolsky – a renowned composer of songs for children. The two started work together, and at the end of 1992 they moved to Sofia where, in 1993, they founded Daga vocal studio which is now celebrating its 30^th anniversary. And they gradually extended the boundaries of their work – organizing contests, festivals, concerts etc.
“He had a really innovative mind,” Snezhana Polihronova-Karnolsky says. “He came up with the ideas for all of our competitions which we started to organize after 1993, even though they were difficult times. But in 2009 he passed away, and we continued – my son Dimitar Karnolsky Jr. and I. His father left him more than 300 songs for children. There is practically no school music book without one of his songs, there is no children’s singing contest in which one of his works is not performed. In 2003 we organized a national festival of Bulgarian songs for children which we dedicated to Karnolsky Senior, and we are planning on making it traditional. The festival took place at the Sredets culture house, whose management has invariably supported us in our projects,” Snezhana Polihronova-Karnolsky says and goes on:

“It is so pleasant to be working with Daga vocal studio, so gratifying. The children now singing with Daga do not always choose music as their profession, but music becomes an important element of their lives. Some have told me that being able to sing and their artistic skills on stage have earned them many friends. Some renowned musicians have been members of our music studio, I remember them all as children, I remember their first steps. That is so exciting. Sometimes the children are very timid when they come to us, they are nervous about singing. But they soon overcome it, and soon they are literally flying when they are on stage. And this kind of result is well worth all of the effort. You just have to look ahead and believe in what you are doing.”

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova

Photos: Daga vocal studio