site.btaBulgarian Culture and Music Gala to Take Place in Vienna on May 22

A gala of Bulgarian culture and music will bring together Bulgarian and Austrian stars in the Mozart Hall of the Wiener Konzerthaus on May 22, organizers said.

For the second consecutive year, on the initiative of pianist Donka Angatscheva and her artistic initiative Art Lives on (Die Kunst lebt weiter), Bulgarian music will be presented in Vienna. The gala concert is dedicated to May 24 - the Day of the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture, and pays tribute to the Bulgarian contribution to European cultural history.

In addition to Angatscheva herself, it will feature Lidia Baich (violin), soloists of the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices Choir with Georgi Andreev (conductor), Konstantin Ilievsky (conductor), Milena Andreeva (vocal), Ekaterina Frolova - violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Miriam Kutrowatz (soprano), Clemens Unterreiner (baritone, soloist of the Wiener Staatsoper), Simeon Goshev (pianist, lecturer at the Vienna University of Music), Nedyalko Nedyalkov (kaval), Valchan Valchanov-Chani (oboist of the Sofia Philharmonic), Teodora Miteva (cello), Marika Lichter (singer and actress) and the Vienna Art Nouveau Orchestra.

The gala will be hosted by Bulgarian journalists Mia Santova and Georgi Toshev, as well as actress Dessi Urumova.

The proceeds from this year's charity Gala of Bulgarian Culture and Music will go to the Dobrin Petkov National School of Music and Dance in Plovdiv, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary. "We believe that music has the power to connect, to inspire, to touch and to unite. For me, this initiative is a personal cause - an opportunity to showcase the richness of Bulgarian music on a global stage and to support the current and next generation of artists," says Angatscheva, who is a graduate of the school.

The event is under the auspices of Bulgarian Ambassador to Austria, Desislava Naydenova-Gospodinova.