Between May 10 and 24 the European Music Festival 2005 will take place in various cities in Bulgaria and will feature many national and international stars. Plovdiv, Pleven, Rousse, Varna and Sofia are to take part in the musical spectacle. The festival will be opened with an international conference on European Union culture on May 10. The conference was initiated by Culture and Tourism Minister Nina Chilova and Italian ambassador Giovan Battista Campagnola.
A few of the highlights of the programme:
Vasko Vassilev is a violin virtuoso of universal calibre. He was born in Sofia in 1970. From the age of seven he enjoyed great popularity performing with major orchestras and top conductors. Vasko was educated at the prestigious Central School of Music in Moscow. By the age of 19 he had already won top places in famous international competitions. By the age of 21, he had not only established an enviable reputation as a soloist, performing concertos all over the world with orchestras in Europe, Scandinavia, the US and the Far East, and as a recitalist and chamber musician appearing in numerous prestigious music festivals, but had already become one of the most sought after and respected concertmasters. Currently, he is the youngest ever leader and the first ever concertmaster of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, with whom he also performs regularly as concerto soloist. Vassilev is also the founder and leader of Laureate, an exclusive string ensemble made up of international prize-winning string instrumentalists. The unusual ensemble, with three recordings under its belt, has also just released for EMI, the world's most virtuosic Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Tartini's Devil's Trill, with Vanessa-Mae as soloist.
Mitsuyoshi Oikawa is a permanent guest conductor of the China Philharmonic, Beijing and the Film Symphony Orchestra of Shanghai. Born in Hokkaido in 1949, he started playing piano at the age of five. In 1967 Oikawa entered the Musical Instrument Department of Tokyo College of Music, as well as the conductor course at Toho Gakuen School of Music. He continued his studies in Paris. Back in Japan in 1977, Oikawa began to work with Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. In 1978 Oikawa was sent to the USA as one of the first exchange students of the Sapporo City Art and Culture Development Foundation. In 1982 he was selected to be an artist trainee by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan's Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, and went to Munich. This gave him the opportunity to study under outstanding conductors such as Colin Davis. He experienced the rehearsals, concerts, and recordings of the Berlin Philharmonic, La Scala and other orchestras at Bayreuth Festival, Verona Festival and Salzburg Festival. On returning to Japan, he made his debut in August 1983 with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, later working with the Shinsei Nihon Symphony Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra and Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra. In July 1986 the government of the People's Republic of China invited Oikawa to conduct two leading Chinese orchestras.
The Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra enjoys a great reputation in Bulgaria and abroad. The orchestra was founded in 1962 and had great successes under the guidance of the artistic director Vassil Kazandjiev. Since 1987 the Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra has been working under the baton of Plamen Djurov. They have been first-prize winners at major festivals in France and Germany, and enjoy popularity at many other festivals, including the Zagreb and Lyubliana in Yugoslavia, the San Sebastian and Santander in Spain, Cita di castella in Italy, the Festival in Paris, Louvain in Belgium and the Bergen Festival in Norway. In addition, they were guest performers throughout Europe, the US, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Russia. The Sofia Soloists perform music from the Baroque period to that of the present day and have over 200 works in their repertoire. A lot of their time is devoted to Bulgarian composers: the group has premiered more than 60 works and many of these were inspired by and written for them.
Paco Pena is flamenco. As guitarist, composer, dramatist, producer and artistic mentor he has transformed perceptions of this archetypal Spanish art form. Born in the Andalusia city of Cordoba, Paco Pena began playing the guitar at the age of six and made his first professional appearance at the age of 12. In the late 1960s he left Spain for London, where his flamenco music managed to entice the public. He performed at prestigious venues like the Royal Albert Hall in London, New York's Carnegie Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has shared the stage with fellow-guitarists, singers and instrumental groups, bridging diverse musical genres, including classical, jazz, blues, country and Latin American. He was also the world's first Professor of Flamenco Guitar, a role established in 1985 at Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. The virtuoso has further plans to explore ways of blending flamenco with classical music. Paco Pena is based in London, but still spends a lot of time in his native Andalusia.
You could find the programme of the festival in the Sofia Guide section of www.sofiaecho.com