site.btaEleven Concerts Included in New Year's Music Festival of Sofia's National Palace of Culture

Sofia, December 9 (BTA) - The traditional New Year's Festival organized by the National Palace of Culture (NDK) will feature eleven concerts, NDK said. The event, from December 15, 2021 to January 1, 2022, includes performances of classical music, jazz, choir, ballet, and concerts for children.

The Bulgarian News Agency is media partner of the event.

This year's motto of the festival "Music is Energy" shines the light on the young Bulgarian performers who have already become established names on the international stage, and also upholds the line of continuity, along with opening the doors to young emerging stars, programme director of the festival Juliana Karaatanassova said. "This is why the interaction between the generations on the stage is so important, for the development of culture and for the development of our society," she said.

The festival opens on December 15 with two concerts, one of which is in partnership with the National Academy of Music which this year celebrates its centennial anniversary. Students from the Academy and the Academic Symphonic Orchestra take part in the concert, called "Christmas Magic". Mila Mihova and Vassilena Atanassova perform in a voice recital called "The Other Bel Canto" on December 15 which features works by Verdi, Meyerbeer, Strauss and Korngold.

A concert called "Pre-Christmas Sparks" on December 16 includes chamber music with works by Johann Hummel, Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt, among others, while "A Christmas Brass Walk" on December 22 presents swing and jazz standards performed by students of the National Academy of Music.

This year again the New Year's Music Festival pays special attention to the youngest music lovers. A Christmas Concert for Children by students of the National Music School will be held on December 18, with popular works by Tchaikovsky, Vladigerov, Sarasate, Goleminov, Bach, and Chopin.

The programme features two Christmas concerts by the Children's Choir with the Bulgarian National Radio.

A concert by cellist Atanas Krastev and pianist Victoria Vassilenko, called "Festive Impressions" is scheduled for December 23, featuring works by Cesar Franck, Niccolo Paganini, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Gaspar Cassado.

Ivan Yanukov will perform a piano recital on December 27 of works by Ludwig Van Beetchoven (Waldstein sonata), Alexander Skriabin (Nocturnes), Dobrinka Tabakova, Ottorino Respighi, Francis Poulenc, Leonid Desyatnikov and Maurice Ravel.

Flute player Dessislava Peteva and pianist Nadezhda Tsanova will perform a chamber concert, "Winter Tale", on December 28.

Last on the December programme is the concert "Footsteps in the Snow" by the duo Ivan Penchev (violin) and Denitza Dimitrova (harp) on December 29. It will feature works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Camille Saint-Saens, Georges Bizet, Nikolay Rimsky Korsakov, Claude Debussy, Jules Massenet and Maurice Ravel.

"Westside Story", "Porgy and Bess", "The Stars and Stripes Forever" are some of the popular and favourite works which will be performed at the traditional New Year's Concert on January 1. This year it will be mottoed "The Music of the Two Americas" and Emil Tabakov will conduct the Festival Symphony Orchestra.

Tabakov speaks of the importance of the connection between the generations. He noted that throughout the years youth has always participated in the festival and more specifically in the festive concert when young talents are invited for soloists. The programme, offered by Tabakov this year, is a musical walk through the classics of America with artists such as Leonard Bernstein and Oscar Peterson, Georges Gershwin's Broadway musical, the hot rhythm of the Argentine tango and the melodies of Rio de Janeiro. LN/ZH,PP