site.btaNew Concert Hall Initiative Announced by Presidency

Sofia, February 3 (BTA) - Emerging from a meeting with the heads
 of founder organisations and a public council supporting an
initiative for a new national concert hall on Wednesday,
President Rumen Radev made the initiative public.

This hall will not only be a new spiritual and cultural hub, the
 stake is much higher - this is a matter of Bulgarian culture
and spirituality, not just as bearers of Bulgarian culture,
values and identity, but also as one of the most important
consolidating elements for a society in order to have national
pride and self-confidence, said The President. It is also a
matter of the nation's future in a dynamic and global world, the
 spiritual development of next generation Bulgarians, he added.

The founders of the initiative include the Union of Bulgarian
Musicians and Dancers, Sofia Philharmonic and Bulgaria
Foundation. The Public Council supporting the initiative
features Prof. Elena Kouteva, Director of Folklore Ensemble
Philip Koutev, BTA Director General Kiril Vulchev, National
Music Academy Rector Prof. Sava Dimitrov, Prof. Rostislav
Yovchev, Deputy Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and
 Dancers and pedagogue, and Daniel Spassov - musician, folklore
scholar and Bulgarian National Television anchor.

The Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers,
Stanislav Pochekanski, said the project for a new concert hall
includes a music complex featuring a large acoustic hall,
several smaller acoustic halls, rehearsal and additional
premises, a museum of Bulgarian musical culture, as well as a
music art education complex.

It is imperative that the new hall be a temple of music, that it
 impress with its architecture and acoustics, that it be located
 in a central and communicable place in Sofia to allow all
connoisseurs and artists to feel at home, Pochekanski said. He
pointed out that the initiative aims complete transparency at
all stages of implementation, broad public support and
reflecting the competent opinion of all professionals - from
musicians through architects to acousticians.

BTA Director General Vulchev said that there is no discord on
the matter of the new music hall. He added that he has discussed
 the matter with the Mayor of Sofia and that Sofia City Hall, on
 which the project depends, is absolutely ready to implement it.
 According to Vulchev, who is also on the Public Council for the
 expansion of the National Library, there is a chance to discuss
 the possible blending of this hall with a new building of the
National Library and, even with the National History Museum.
RY/BR