On 21 March, the Children’s Radio Choir of the Bulgarian National Radio will give its spring concert. The event is dedicated to the 57th birthday of this acclaimed choir. Having been founded by Academician Hristo Nedyalkov in 1961, through the years the choir has toured dozens of countries on all continents, with the exception only of Australia. It is holder of numerous awards at prestigious competitions and festivals. In 2002 the EU European Federation of Choirs named the Children’s Radio Choir “Cultural ambassador of Europe”. Hundreds of former choir members have chosen to make a career in music. Many of them are now foremost names on the Bulgarian and world stage. But there are others who have made a name for themselves in other professions too – architects, doctors, engineers, actors, translators… Pillars of society whose love of music still runs deep. Every year, the choir’s birthday brings together different generations of choir singers.

Venezia Karamanova took over as conductor of the Children’s Radio Choir in 2011 after Academician Nedyalkov passed away. Here is more from her about the concert programme and the guest performers:

“In 1960, the choir’s founder Maestro Nedyalkov called the children from the newly founded choir of the Bulgarian National Radio for a rehearsal. Since then, every year, the choir celebrates this remarkable event, bringing together lovers of choir singing, Children’s Radio Choir fans as well as former choir members. For tonight’s concert I have invited Ina Kuncheva, who was a choir soloist some 15 years ago and now lives in Hanover where she has a successful solo career. Other special guests are the musicians from the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble with conductor Plamen Jurov. I have divided the programme up into two parts. In the first part we shall perform works which have been in the choir’s repertoire for decades, for the benefit of our audience and all attending former choir singers. In the second half I have included modern pieces, only recently included in our repertoire. But we also have a surprise. For some years now, we have been singing a piece, composed specifically for this day, the day we celebrate the choir’s birthday. This year we shall be presenting a playful virtuoso piece by composer Viacheslav Koushev.”

The audio file features:

- Scherzo, music Evgeniy Kluev, conductor Venezia Karamanova;

- Yove, malay mome (Yove, young lass), music Alexander Tanev, conductor Hristo Nedyalkov;

- Esurientes, music Giovanni Palestrina, conductor Venezia Karamanova;

- Prituri se planinata (the mountain has overturned), music Yulian Slabakov, conductor Venezia Karamanova;

English version: Milena Daynova