The International ppIANISSIMOFestival marked its 20th anniversary at the end of October with a concert in Bulgaria Hall. According to Prof. BorislavaTaneva, co-chair of the forum, this event is an "autumn link" to the anniversary that started with the usual edition of "ppIANISSIMO" in the spring of 2017.The Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radiowas also on stage together with the soloists.

For the first time in Bulgaria the Concerto for two pianos and double orchestra”Battlefield” by Richard Dubugnon was presented. The world premiere of Concerto ppIANISSIMO by Georgi Arnaudov also took place. At the end of the program, the audience applauded a work that is emblematic for the Bulgarian XX century - Concerto for piano and orchestra by GeorgiMinchev. Created in 1978, the concert was performed for the first time by the orchestra conducted by Vasil Kazandzhiev with soloist Ivan Drenikov. The Piano Concerto won the International Record Critics' Award in the USA (1979) and was ranked first among the recommended pieces for the International Composers Rostrum in Paris (1981).

The whole concert was recorded for the BNR audio fund. You can hear excerpts from the works in the sound files. More details about the event from Professor Taneva:

“Pianist Lilia Boyadzhieva, Ilia Gramatikov (co-chair of ppIANISSIMO) and I are behind the program of the forum. Lilia offered that the concert byRichard Dubugnon be included. She performed this work together with VeselaPelovska - one of the first students of Prof. Stella Dimitrova-Maistorova,who has achieved serious success. As we know, Professor Maistorova is the founder and longtime organizer of this festival, and today she is its honorary chairperson. She performed Concerto for piano and orchestra by GeorgiMinchev - one of the emblematic Bulgarian works, created in the twentieth century that has not been performed for a long time. The festive concert was a great occasion to recall this great music written about 40 years ago. We also received a present from composer GeorgiArnaudov - his Concerto ppIANISSIMOthat I and Lilia Boyadjievaperformed. Its world premiere took place on October 20."

"Of course, thanks to the Bulgarian National Radio, with which the festival has partnered, as well as thanks to the Bulgarian Radio and its chief conductor Mark Kadin. I think it was a very nice concert. Apart from the April issue, this "autumn" link extends celebrating the anniversary. I can safely this is a truly heroic deed – organizing such a forum, devoted to just one instrument. This year the festival received financial support from Sofia Municipality and the Ministry of Culture, and we hope this will happen again next year."

Prof. Taneva also told us that the 2018 program is now ready, and the upcoming edition extends the framework of the festival in several different directions.

“The festival will be divided over three weekends,” Prof. Taneva says. "We thought it was more convenient for the audience this way. The program presents not only piano works, but also various key instruments like organ, accordion ... The participation of Mila Mihova - soprano and Nikolay Iliev–cimbalo is very interesting, too. This will bring a new audience to the usual one of the festival. The program also includes a project of the Swiss-Bulgarian AssociationI founded 10 years ago in Geneva. There are 39 miniatures for piano, cello and clarinet created by composers from 39 countries, especially forppIANISSIMO. The duration of each play is about a minute. Premieres of the project are scheduled for November in France and Switzerland. The Balkan premiere will be in the framework of "Pianissimo - 2018", while performers will be students from "Prof. PanchoVladigerov" Academy of Music. We are also expecting a jazz trio from Austria; soloists from Armenia, Spain, a team from Denmark ... Artistic director Ilia Gramatikov will probably reveal more details on the eve of the festival. I am truly grateful to him for his tremendous efforts. The team of the festival is small but cohesive, everyone knows their duties and follows them. And most importantly, we all look in the same direction and have the same goals.”

English: Alexander Markov