The summer is a great season to carry out various creative ideas. Nature is a source of powerful inspiration and the festival of chamber music The Unbeaten Path is precisely this kind of event.

From 3 to 6 August, in Kovachevitsa in the Western Rhodope Mountains, the silence of the village bathing in lush greenery will be “violated” by the splendid sounds of the piano, violin, clarinet, cello and the most difficult instrument to master – the human voice.

Lora Tchekoratova, initiator and founder of the festival, explains how and why she picked up the place:

“I am very happy that so many people are interested in our idea. I absolutely admire Bulgaria and I come back home with great pleasure. In the recent years jointly with my husband, violinist Georgy Valtchev, I have been thinking of a chamber music festival. This is one reason to stay longer in Bulgaria during summers. Travelling across the country I have seen many lovely places with a potential to host such a festival. I have chosen Kovachevitsa because a few Bulgarian friends from New York told me about its beauty. So I visited Kovachevitsa and was very impressed. The village of Leshten is also a nice place, as well as Ognyanovo, Gotze Delchev etc. In fact I fell in love with this part of Bulgaria, with its colors, its wonderful people, history and traditions. I think that it would be a temptation for the region’s guests. My idea is to mix tourism with music inspired by the Rhodope Mountains.”

Lora Tchekoratovais a pianist based in New York with a successful creative career over the past 25 years. There she does a great job in supporting the development and popularization of the Bulgarian music culture. The idea to start such a festival in Bulgaria is part of her larger mission. In this endeavor she has the support of her husband, famous violinist Georgy Valtchev. Both concertize across the world but have never forgotten their roots.

Here is more from Lora:

“What matters a lot to us is to include residents of Kovachevitsa and of neighboring villages in this music event. Children are of no lesser importance either. Before the official opening on 3 August we will organize a children’s concert in the town of Gotze Delchev inviting children from the region. We will be telling them about classical music and the instruments, and of course, we will play some music. We want to create a worthwhile experience for them.The colleagues who will join us include Vangel Tangarov (clarinet), Ekaterina Tangarova (piano), Christo Tanev (cello), Nikola Takov (violin), Veselin Todorov (viola) and my husband. We grew up together with most of them. With some we continued our studies at Juilliard School in New York. Today we are scattered across the globe. My idea has to do with having a place, here in Bulgaria, where we would reunite and work together. The program has been made in a way so that everyone of us takes part in each of the concerts. One of the highlights on the program is the participation of mezzo-soprano Mariana Karpatova who was born in Gotze Delchev but has been singing and teaching music across the Atlantic for many years now. She will now be back to her home region and will for the first time have the chance of singing to native audiences.”

English Daniela Konstantinova