site.bta17th Sofia Baroque Arts Festival (September 26 - December 10)

Italian musician Francesco Spendolini, accompanied by a Festival String Quartet, will play Mozart, Romberg and Kozeluh in the opening concert of the 17th Sofia Baroque Arts Festival, titled "The Irresistible Clarinet". The concert will take place at the Ancient Serdica Complex in Sofia's Largo on September 26, the organizers said.

Next, on September 28, the Ceremonial Hall of Sofia University will host "Vox Domini", a concert of works by Biber, Bruhns and Pollet, sung by Canadian classical bass vocalist David McCune with a Festival Chamber Ensemble.

Handel's opera Amadigi di Gaula will be staged at Sofia Opera on October 12 and 13, with Italian soprano Carlotta Colombo, Bulgarian soprano Rumyana Kostova, Italian contralto Margherita Maria Sala and Polish countertenor Rafal Tomkiewicz. Zefira Valova will be the concertmaster. The same work will be presented as a kids concert on October 29.

Harpsichordist Olivier Fortin with Ensemble Masques (France) will play works by Rameau, Telemann and Bach at the Sofia City Art Gallery on November 8. The concert is titled "Baroque Ouvertures".

At the Sofia University Ceremonial Hall on November 12, two French musicians: Alex Kosenko on the flute and Christophe Coin on the viola da gamba will joint Bulgarian flute player Alexander Nikolaev and harpsichordist Nikolay Stoikov in a "Celebrities" concert of pieces by Leclair and Blavet.

Dutch recorder player Erik Bosgraaf and the FiloBarocco trio from Italy will take the audience on "A Journey with Telemann" at the Sofia City Art Gallery on November 25.

At the same venue on December 6, young international award-winning soloists and a Festival String Quartet will appear in a concert mottoed "Contemporary Interpreters of Bach".

In "Corelli's Legacy" at the Sofia University Ceremonial Hall on December 10, young chamber musicians: violinist Yoare Talibart and cellist Madeleine Bouissou will perform together with harpsichordist Guillaume Haldenwang, lute player Yavor Genov and violinist Zefira Valova.

The Festival includes several educational events: an open rehearsal with Ensemble Masques on November 7, a workshop on Bach's works for violin with pupils of Sofia's Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music between November 22 and 24, and a "Contemporary Interpreters of Bach" concert on November 29 with the participation of young soloists who have won prizes at international competitions.