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

"Magnificent Five" of BNR Big Band saxophonists take part in "Mr. Sax" concert

A concert entitled "Mr. Sax” will take place on February 15 and is the first of a series in which we can hear all of the musicians in the BNR Big Band. It's no secret that the instrumentalists in the orchestra are among the most popular names of the Bulgarian jazz scene. Many of them are involved in various projects. We can not miss the name of Antoni Donchev - conductor of the Big Band, pianist and composer with many awards and long and successful career. Here are the soloists of the concert - Vasil Enchev, Dimitar Liolev, Petar Momchev, Boris Petrov, and Atanas Hadzhiev.

Here is more from Antoni Donchev:

We initiated a series in which we could focus at the different groups in the orchestra, says Anton Donchev. We start with the saxophone, so I titled the show Mr. Sax. I can proudly say that the five saxophone players fromthe band are among the elite musicians in Bulgaria. I tried to challenge them to present themselves not only as performers, as most of them compose music and release albums. Some of them will perform their plays, arranged especially for the concert. Among them are Dimitar Liolev and Peter Momchev. Others like Vasil Enchev, for example, arranged pieces from their jazz repertoire. Boris Petrov developed the theme of a piece for big band, called "Mastodon". The play by Dimitar Liolev ‘Rhodopology’, that gave the name to his original album will sound orchestrated by Vasil Spasov. With all these wonderful saxophonists I have played in different formations outside the Big Band. I can say that we are very close; I would even use the word friends. This reflects our common work in the orchestra, because every project brings something different enriches musicians and they come to rehearsals at First Studio loaded with new energy.

As revealed by the interview with Antoni Donchev, all the pieces in the program of the concert will sound for the first time, prepared especially for the"Mr. Sax”show. However, soloists have hundreds of recordings in the audio fund of the BNR. We end with a recording of the play "Balkan Surprise" by Vasil Spasov. Soloist is Atanas Hadziev (baritone saxophone), together with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band.

English: Alexander Markov


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

Christmas magic with "The Radio Children" and children's favourite songs

The magic of Christmas will be brought by the Radiodetsa vocal group at its Christmas matinee on Saturday December 14 at 11am in Studio 1 of Bulgarian National Radio. The children will perform popular Christmas songs. The concert will be conducted..

published on 12/12/24 1:15 PM

"Tihiyat Glas" and the message not to be afraid to be weak

The life of Virginia Sabeva-GINI is music. As a child, she sang in a choir. Then she studied in a music school, participated in the musical competition "X Factor" and worked abroad. After returning from Norway, she worked with children as a music..

published on 12/11/24 6:50 AM

Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to play in Sofia in 2025

Bulgaria will be one of the stopovers in the summer Surfing with the Hydra Tour 2025 by legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and their new band SATCHVAI Band , Sofia Music Enterprises have announced. The concert in Sofia will..

published on 12/9/24 3:03 PM