site.btaDistinguished Persons, Organizations from Bulgarian Community on US West Coast Awarded in LA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel presented in Los Angeles the honorary award in this year's edition of the Bulgarian Awards for Contribution to Art, Culture, Education and Science. The award recognizes distinguished persons and organizations, both Bulgarian and foreign, from the Bulgarian community on the US West Coast for their contributions to Bulgarian art, culture, education and science.

The awards, conceived by the Bulgarian Consul General in Los Angeles, Boyko Hristov, were organized by BgFace - Bulgarian Foundation for Art, Culture and Education and backed by the Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Los Angeles.

This year's winners in the four categories - art, culture, education and science - were pianist Milen Kirov, Sanya Kirova who chairs the Bulgarian Cultural Center Ripni Kalinke, First Bulgarian School Vasil Levski in Las Vegas and architect Ivan Tashev respectively.

A special award for the contribution to the cultural relations between the US and Bulgaria was presented by Gabriel to the American actor Jon Voight.

The event was attended by more than 200 guests, including director Stephan Komandarev and members of the Academy. The ceremony ended with screening of the trailer of this year's Bulgarian bid for the Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film, Blaga's Lessons.