Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Kaval player Nedyalko Nedyalkov performs with multinational orchestra at refugee camp in Calais, France

Nedyalkov in the "Calais Jungle"
Photo: courtesy of Nedyalko Nedyalkov

Renowned Bulgarian kaval player Nedyalko Nedyalkov took part in the concert programme presented in the biggest refugee camp in Europe near Calais, France. The idea belongs to Jordi Savall, Spanish conductor, viola da gamba player and composer who gained world renown with his interest in medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music.

Savall has a Grammy to his name for one of his projects in this sphere. Savall is conductor of the multinational orchestra Nedyalko Nedyalkov performs with, alongside musicians from Greece, Israel, Syria and other countries. The orchestra repertoire features traditional music from Bulgaria, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon. Days before going to the “Calais jungle” as the encampment is called, the musicians got together for one of their customary concerts in Europe - this time in Bruges, Belgium. At Calais the orchestra performed their programme twice - at the refugee camp and at the concert hall in the town.

“There are 3,500 - 5,000 refugees, coming from different countries living in the “Calais jungle,” Nedyalko says. “We first went round the camp which is divided up into different sectors. We met and talked to people. Then we played under a canopy - the place the refugees have their meals. Of course, music transforms the atmosphere completely, but I can't stop thinking about these people - such a sad story.”

Each one of the soloists performed pieces from their own national culture. Nedyalko Nedyalkov played two of his own folk-based compositions which he has not even recorded yet.



English version: Milena Daynova




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Kiril Marichkov

New community cultural center in Sofia to be named after rock music legend Kiril Marichkov

The Natalia Simeonova Foundation has filed documents for registration of a community center that will be named after the legend of Bulgarian rock music Kiril Marichkov . This was announced to the Bulgarian National Radio by the former host of one of the..

published on 12/25/24 6:10 PM

British artists sculpt the Nativity scene from sand in Bulgaria's Burgas

The sculpture “Sand Nativity in Burgas”, which artists Paul and Remy Hoggard are sculpting in the center of Burgas in front of the people of the city, will be ready for Christmas Eve and will remain there until January 7, 2025. The..

published on 12/24/24 6:15 AM

Sculptor Yusein Yusuf turns a fountain into a gallery in the forest

An art gallery in the middle of the forest – this is what eyewitnesses liken the roadside fountain with a gazebo near the village of Konche near Momchilgrad in the Rhodope Mountains to . The construction was started in 1985 by Yusuf's father, and a year..

published on 12/22/24 11:35 AM