“Five premieres of works by Bulgarian authors, presented by Bulgarian performers. Immodest as it may sound I think this is a significant contribution, given the difficulties musicians have been facing,” says Prof. Borislava Taneva, artistic director of the Mozart Festival Pravets and goes on:

The orchestration of “Cinderella” is by Rumen Boyadzhiev Jr., and the music is by Borislava Taneva.

The second festival day features a matinee by Philharmonica Quartet whose members are leading musicians from the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. Besides works by Mozart and Beethoven they will perform, for the first time in full, Cypresses by Dvorak, which Prof. Taneva describes as – beautiful music to the accompaniment of quatrains that are just as beautiful.

Renowned choir conductor and producer at the Bulgarian National Radio Vanya Moneva will be the special guest at the traditional autograph session on 22 August. The concert on the same night is by the youngest independent Bulgarian chamber orchestra - Drop Down Community - which will perform music by Mozart and will present the premiere of Chamber Symphony by composer Rumen Boyadzhiev Jr.

“Drop Down Community takes a very interesting angle on classical music,” Prof. Taneva goes on to say. “As they put it, they “bring it out of mothballs” to bring it closer to the younger audience. The orchestra has many fans and we are expecting them to be in the audience. I am sure they will also appreciate the premiere of Little Night Music-2 – a project by Angel Zaberski based on classical works and performed by his jazz trio. On Sunday we shall be able to watch the Vanya Moneva female folklore choir perform on the stage in front of the town hall in Pravets. As soon as this concert was announced, it immediately sparked a discussion whether the Mozart Festival should include folklore. And the biggest challenge in this case was taken up by composer Georgi Andreev who wrote a musical work, specifically for this concert, based on music by Mozart and on Bulgarian folklore melodies. I am certain that it will be very interesting – he is a master of choral music scores.

Mozart is civilization, beauty, perfection itself. Love, feeling and truth flow from every note. He is to be found everywhere, as long as there is positive energy, love and as long as we believe in what we are doing.  And of course – optimism. As long as everything is done in good taste and with moderation, unheard of blends of styles and cultures can be done. If we take a look back at history, many of the innovative phenomena were not well received at the beginning at all, but gradually they have come to be seen as progressive. So – come and hear the music for yourselves. If we have been successful – that too will be an asset for the 16^th edition of the Mozart Festival.”