site.btaVarna Summer International Music Festival 2024 Begins on June 22

The Varna Summer International Music Festival 2024 will start on June 22, said the organizing team led by artistic director Mario Hossen at a press conference on Tuesday. Founded in 1926, Varna Summer was the first ever music festival in Bulgaria.

The festival traditionally includes a core programme of symphony and chamber music; International Summer Music Academy; Music Lab – Varna; Renaissance and Baroque Music; Opera and Ballet; Intermezzo – in partnership with the “Varna Summer” International Theater Festival; a children's programme with educational concerts; and a parallel program with exhibitions, films, conferences and other events.

Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev noted that the Varna Summer International Music Festival and the city of Varna have always been connected. People who care for culture make sure to visit the festival, which has been an emblem of the city for 100 years. "We will always work to develop it", said Kotsev.

 Desislava Georgieva, head of the Culture Directorate in the Varna City Hall, said that they maintain an interesting joint programme with the Varna Summer International Theater Festival in order to present large-scale events.

According to Hossen, the festival is a great opportunity and an additional incentive for guests of the city to associate a visit to Varna with something that will enrich them spiritually. The opening is subordinated to the idea of a united Europe, Hossen said, and will feature the world premiere of a work by Belgian composer Patrick Dheur, written especially for the festival, which is a nod to the Belgian Presidency of the EU. Pianist Sarkis Baltaian will give a debut performance of Gershwin's F Concerto, and the programme will also include Rhapsody Vardar by Pancho Vladigeroff and Love Magic by Manuel De Falla.

The Joseph Haydn Philharmonic will be a guest at the festival, which, according to Hossen, is a unique project, financed by Hungary and Austria. Their performance is a gesture to the upcoming Hungariant Presidency of EU. One of the festival's highlights is the visit by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, while the main programme will also include musicians from the French Sirba Ensemble.

The Baroque element in 2024 will be present by iconic Vivaldi music specialist Federico Sardelli and his ensemble, as well as a live performance of the Mass in B minor by an international festival orchestra, three soloists of the Vienna State Opera and the Szczecin Choir. The international symposium in 2024 will be dedicated to the music of the Danube countries, Hossen noted. The focus will be on composers who have anniversaries such as Pancho Vladigeroff, Lyubomir Pipkov, Bela Bartok, George Enescu and Richard Strauss.

The closing of the festival will be on October 5 with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Georgi Dimitrov, with Mario Hossen being invited to perform as a soloist.