site.btaUPDATED More than 450 Artists from 10 Countries to Participate in March Music Days in Ruse

The 63rd edition of the international festival March Music Days will be officially open on Sunday evening in Ruse with a concert by world-famous violinist Svetlin Rusev and South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son, Northeastern Bulgaria, said the festival director Iva Chavdarova.

The program of performers includes works by Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Korngold and Faure.

March Music Days was supposed to begin on March 15, but due to the two-day national mourning on the occasion of the passing of  Neophyte, Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia, the municipal administration, which is the organizer of the music forum, postponed the event.

A scheduled performance of Verdi's Requiem by the Ruse Festival Orchestra and Choir and maestro Emil Tabakov took place without an audience in honour of Patriarch Neophyte, who was the Metropolitan of Ruse for 19 years. The performance was recorded and will be posted in the coming days on the information channels of the festival and the municipality.

More than 450 participants from 10 countries will take part in the the festival, which will take place between March 17 and March 31.

Performers from Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Romania, Italy, South Korea, Croatia, Georgia, Bulgaria will perform on the festival stage.

The music forum will host more than 20 events - orchestral programmes, ensemble concerts, ballet performances, accompanying events and artists and ensembles debuting on the Bulgarian stage.

The Austrian ensemble Vienna Trombone Attraction will perform for the first time on the festival stage, featuring arrangements of classical and jazz pieces. The French/Belgian string quartet will make its debut.

Jazz musicians Veselin "Eko" Veselinov (double bass) and pianist Milen Kukosharov will also make their debut. They will present their project Jazz Night.

The programme includes the debuts of the piano trio Albena Danailova (violin), Alexander Somov (cello), and Nadezhda Vlaeva (piano).

For the first time, pianist Giorgi Gigashvili will take part in the festival in Ruse, at the closing concert of March Music Days on March 31 at the Ruse Philharmonic with conductor Dimitar Kosev.

Premiers

The festival fill feature a number of premieres. On March 25, the public will be able to see the ballet performance Calliope by the Ruse Opera. The author of the music is Emil Tabakov, who will also be the conductor. "This will be one of the major events in the festival programme," said Chavdarova.

The Frosch String Quartet will present the world premiere of Piano Quintet No. 2 by composer Vasil Kazandzhiev.

The festival programme also includes several special projects. Violinist Svetlin Rusev and pianist Yeol Eum Son will take the stage once more on Monday evening, together with Oleksiy Shadrin (cello).

The Signum saxophone quartet will also present a premiere programem.

The special projects also include a concert of the Prof. Vasil Arnaudov Rusе Choir, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, conducted by  Svilen Dimitrov.

During the festival, concerts will also be held by the Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra with conductor Konstantin Dobroikov and soloists Mincho Minchev (violin and viola), and Nikolay Minchev (violin), the Sofia Philharmonic with conductor Nayden Todorov and soloist pianist Elena Bashkirova, as well as the BNR Symphony Orchestra with conductor Georgi Dimitrov and soloist Emanuil Ivanov (piano).

The accompanying programme of the festival will feature exhibitions, a presentation of a documentary film and books.

March Music Days is one of the oldest and most renowned festivals in Bulgaria. It is a festival with a modern programming strategy and a high public rating.

Founded in 1961 and organized by the Municipality of Ruse, every year the music forum turns the city into a meeting place for elite artists from the world and European music scene.

BTA is among the main media partners of the festival.