Member of British Arts Festivals Association
About the Festival
Why are we presenting the Bulgarian culture in London?
Bulgaria often is related by the general British public with its sunny beaches, beautiful mountains, and good wine. And possibly only a few people are familiar with its rich historic and cultural heritage besides the country's stunning nature.
Things you probably didn't know about the Bulgarian cultural heritage:
Bulgaria's main ancestral cultures - Thracian, Slavic, and Proto-Bulgarian combined with each other, have developed and transformed to produce the body of folk customs, beliefs, artistic forms and traditional narratives that have existed right up until the modern era and which are now collectively known as Bulgarian folklore. Bulgarian songs offer a marvelous combination between Thracian archaism, Byzantine liturgy, popular songs, sagas and laments.
The most distinctive feature of the Bulgarian Folk music is the complexity of its rhythms in comparison to Western music. Such rhythms are achieved by means of diverse time combinations based on "Extended Time". This technique makes Bulgarian folk song unique, while extended time is its distinguishing feature, which is non-existent in the rest of the European music. This feature has been fascinating many composers such as Bella Bartok, who composed many works featuring the unique rhythms of the Bulgarian folk songs.
In 864 during the reign of the Saint Knyaz Boris I, Bulgaria became the first Slav kingdom to adopt Christianity as a state religion. In 927 during the reign of his son, Emperor Simeon I of Bulgaria the Bulgarian Patriarchate was established as the first in the history of Christianity to be added to the original Pentarchy of Patriarchates (Rome, Constantinople, Egypt, Alexandria and Antioch), an event of huge historical importance as it gave a precedent for the establishment of the Russian Patriarchate some 600 years later. After the creation of the Cyrillic Alphabet in Bulgaria by the disciples of St Cyril and Methodius in the late 9th Century, a need was realized for the Sacred Chant to be adapted for the purposes of the new script and liturgical language. This was the beginning of Bulgarian Chant. Based upon the rich heritage of Byzantine Chant and enriching it with Bulgarian intonations, Bulgarian chant achieved such distinct beauty that later chant repertoires in the Byzantine and the Russian-Orthodox tradition were named "Bulgarian Chant" after it and were influenced by its features. Furthermore the distinguished reformer of Byzantine Chant, Yoan Kukuzel who was of Bulgarian descent composed his famous "Polieleion of the Bulgarian Woman" in tribute to his mother. During the period of the Ottoman invasion Bulgarian Chant continued its uninterrupted development within the monastic tradition despite of the official Muslim rule and was not destroyed as such, unlike the Bulgarian secular music of the time. Numerous manuscripts survive from that period and most notably the Rila Chanting School at the Rila Monastery reached remarkable flourish between 17th and 19th Centuries and composers-monks like Neophyte of Rila, Joasaph of Rila, Averki priest Stoyanov, Procopius Acacius, Anasthasius and abbot Joseph amongst many others created masterpieces of Bulgarian Chant which fascinate with both their beauty and sophistication. Nowadays the Rila Monastery preserves one of the largest libraries of Slavonic manuscripts kept in European library. Bulgarian Chant with its unique approach to modality and particular sophistication within its monodic development is a subject of rigorous research amongst distinguished Bulgarian scholars, to mention Elena Toncheva, Svetlana Kujumdjieva, Klara Mechkova, Assen Atanasov amongst many and fascinates contemporary composers, such as Vassil Kazandjiev, Konstantin Iliev and Martin Georgiev.
Here are a few less -known facts about Bulgaria:
The Cyrilic Alphabet was created at the Preslav Literary School, at the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire. It was commissioned by the Bulgarian Tzar Simeon I The Great in the 9th Century from the disciples of the Saint Brothers Cyril and Methodius and named "Cyrilic" in their tribute. This is one of the three official alphabets in Europe. The Cyrillic alphabet has strong millennia long traditions; it is the writing alphabet of more than 250 million people in the Slavic cultural area. This alphabet may be the most original part of Bulgaria's specific contribution to cultural diversity.
from antiquity up to the present days has been used not only for its unique scent but it is a base of the most expensive and high quality perfumes. Bulgaria is one of the two biggest producers of rose oil in the world.
which dates back to the Thracians - ancient inhabitants of the Bulgarian lands. The milk of the water buffalo cultured with the Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria gives Bulgarian yoghurt a taste like no other. The Lactobacillus bulgaricus bacteria is to be found only in Bulgaria.
The objectives of the LFBC are to:
and it's heritage, featuring prominent and up-and-coming names of the International art scene - performers, composers and painters.
between Bulgarian and British artists.
and organisations by creating an intercultural dialogue of ideas, achievements, and art experimentation.
by propagating them to wider audiences, and stimulating by this a greater interest and better understanding of the Bulgarian Cultural heritage, most of it widely unknown to the general public in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.
inspiring also other artists with different cultural background to get to know it better by performing works of Bulgarian composers, and also works influenced by, and deriving from the Bulgarian's specific rhythms and melodies.
Educational events
There will be two important educational aspects, featured in the LFBC’s programme:
- Educational music workshop and a master class with an accent on Bulgarian composer’s works.
- An Award will be given out to a student from the master class for an outstanding interpretation of the most iconic piece of Bulgarian music – Bulgarian Rhapsody Vardar by Pancho Vladigerov.
Le Mystere Des Voixes Bulgares
This women's choir truly represents the most internationally renowned Bulgarian performers of all times. Winner of a Grammy Award, the choir has sold over a 1.2 million albums worldwide, their music has been endorsed by pop stars such as Paul Simon, George Harrison and Bobby Mcferrin, amongst many others. We are thrilled to have them performing one night exclusively in our opening concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra
The distinguished Bulgarian chamber orchestra has performed over 3000 concerts all over the world in their 48 years of history. They have premiered over 100 works, some of them written especially for them. Sofia Soloists have recorded over 60 CD's for BMG, Decca, and Columbia amongst others, and some of the most internationally renowned musicians such as Henryk Szeryng, Heinz Holliger and Nigel Kennedy have performed with them.
In 2006, the Choir won BBC Radio 3 Open Choir of the Year, becoming the first choir to be awarded this title. In 2007, they were the subject of a BBC Radio 4 documentary: Joan Armatrading's Favourite Choirs. They have collaborated with numerous rock, jazz and classical musicians, most notably the BBC Electric Proms with rock band Doves, broadcast live on BBC 2 in October 2009.
The Bridge Quartet have a strong English repertoire built round their acclaimed recordings of the four quartets by their namesake. They gave a three-concert Bridge Cycle on the South Bank for the Kirckman Concert Society and repeated this at the Dartington International Summer Festival. The Bridge Quartet have performed in major Festivals in the UK, Europe and America including Cambridge, City of London, Tuscany, Dubrovnik, Fayence, Jacksonville, Jimena, King's Lynn, Machynlleth and Newbury. The Bridge Quartet's diverse educational portfolio includes projects with students from Trinity College of Music and Sikh musicians from the Raj Academy. They hold regular residential courses in England, France, Italy and Switzerland.
The Forte String Quartet is now celebrating its 20th anniversary and enjoys wide acclaim across Europe and USA. They perform a wide range of repertoire, including premieres of new works. The breadth of the Quartet's other activities include recordings and broadcasts and they also given chamber concerts throughout the United States and regular concerts in New York City venues such as Barge Music, Weill Hall/Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Center for Performing Arts and the annual concert at Brooklyn Conservatoire. They have also toured in Europe.
In the programme there will be many other highlights including the World Premiere of a piece for violin/viola and a string quartet written by John Howard, and a performance of the work "Mercurius" by Gwyn Pritchard, featuring a collaboration between the Sofia Soloists and a wind ensemble from the Trinity College of Music.
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Opening concert – Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London
Le Mystere Des Voixes Bulgares
Date: 2nd November 2010 -
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Educational event
A violin Master class and an Award presentation
Date and Venue TBC -
Concert – St James’s Piccadilly, London
Chamber music concert
The Bridge Quartet
Devorina Gamalova - violin/ viola
Date: 5th November 2010 -
Concert – St John’s Smith Square, London
London Bulgarian Choir
Date: 12th November 2010 -
Exhibition of Bulgarian paintings
Date TBC
Bulgarian Embassy in London
Event organized by Cerise Art Agency -
Concert – St James’s Piccadilly, London
Chamber music concert
The Forte String Quartet
Ivo Varbanov - piano
Date: 19th November 2010 -
Closing concert – St James’s Piccadilly, London
Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra
Vania Vatralova-Stankov - soprano
Kristine Blaumane - violoncello
Ivo Stankov - violin
Date: 26th November 2010
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If you would like to receive further information or have a query regarding the LFBC please go to Contact us page.
The Organiser
Classical Concerts Productions is a limited company, registered in England and Wales (Number 6510807), established in 2008 in London.
The director of the company is Ivo Stankov who is also a musician and the initiator of the idea for the London Festival of Bulgarian Culture.
He has been organising concerts and other cultural events for the past seven years, in venues in London such as Wigmore Hall, St. Johns Smith Square, and in other places in the UK and Europe. He has collaborated with many artists and ensembles worldwide and has a vast experience in the music business. He has performed alongside some of the well-known international artists such as Sir Cliff Richard, Mark Knopfler, and others.
Many institutions and influential figures involved in media and arts in Bulgaria and the UK have already expressed their full support for the London Festival of Bulgarian Culture. Here are some of our main supporters:
London Festival of Bulgarian Culture is a member of British Arts Festivals Association
