An offbeat concert is on the playbill of the 21st Salon of Arts in Sofia on 15 May. It is going to bring together the musicians who 20 years ago contributed to Bulgaria's popularity worldwide. Theodosi Spassov (shepherd's flute) OM band (Nikolay Ivanov, guitar and piano and Marina Velikova, soprano, saxophone and vocals), Dragan Milev-Dary (percussions), Kotseto Kalki (vocals) and Donny (vocals) entered the Guinness Book of Records with a concert held at the highest point above sea level, 5350 m. Thus took place on 15 May 1996 on the plateau just under Peak Kalapathar in the Himalayas.

„This journey full of ordeals for the spirit and body opened for us a new door revealing the path towards us and the unconditional faith and knowledge that although full of surprise and sometimes hard and unclear, we should follow this path with all our hearts once we have detected it”, the participants said.

 „Most of the compositions that we performed back then had been created during the 50-day journey”, Marina Velikova tells Radio Bulgaria. “Now we will try to play them the same way though for that period we have developed and this is naturally reflected in music. I believe that the direction we took and followed for 20 years has been worthwhile and productive. With the concert on 15 May we will recall our experience and how we tried to inspire the audience. This time on 15 May at Lumiere Movie Theater three of the documentaries that were made during that trip will be screened. The first is the original concert filmed and recorded on the peak; the second is about the entire close to 2-month trip and the third is devoted to actress Slavka Slavova. Unfortunately she passed away long ago but she was an amazing woman who at age 72 reached 4000 m above sea level riding a horse. We all feel deep respect for her. Other colleagues will join the concert. I hope this event will be very exciting and nice for us.”

The documentary footage is by film director Mario Krastev and producer Alexander Iliev (the video with him and with the concert's sound designer - here ).

As a matter of interest since the original concert in the Himalayas 20 years ago, the musicians have not performed together in the same format. Now it is a great occasion for them to share emotions and memories. Apart from musicians the footage from the expedition also features actors, mimes, photographers, cameramen, mountain guides and athletes all driven by a great idea. The event is part of the 2016 schedule of cultural events of Sofia Municipality.

English Daniela Konstantinova

Photos: courtesy of Jazz+

Audio contains: Music in the rendition of N. Ivanov, T. Spassov and M, Velikova

1. Awakening

2. April

3. Karshenitsa