site.btaBTA Concludes Partnership Agreement with Prof. Asen Diamandiev Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts of Plovdiv

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) has entered into a partnership agreement with the Prof. Asen Diamandiev Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts of Plovdiv (AMDFA). The agreement was signed by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and AMDFA Rector Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zhan Pehlivanov.

At the signing event, Valchev said: "This is BTA’s 36th partnership agreement with a Bulgarian university out of a total of 52 [in the country]. However, the agreement with the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts holds special significance as this year the Academy marks its 60th anniversary."

To commemorate the occasion, Valchev presented Assoc. Prof. Pehlivanov with a paper copy of an article published by BTA on October 5, 1964, which announced: "Today, a long-cherished dream of Plovdiv residents has come true: A branch of the Bulgarian State Conservatory was inaugurated here today." Valchev also gifted the rector several other paper copies of BTA’s news articles from the 1970s related to the Academy’s activities, along with art-related issues of BTA’s LIK magazine.

The partnership agreement stipulates that BTA will regularly publish news about the Academy’s activities. This addresses a gap in coverage up until 2022, when BTA’s Culture, Science, and Education Directorate was established. Valchev also noted that some articles will be translated into English to help AMDFA attract students from other countries.

Assoc. Prof. Pehlivanov voiced his enthusiasm about the agreement, emphasizing that "the Academy is bustling with events that would be valuable and interesting to the Bulgarian public". "We have been collaborating for some time," said Pehlivanov, citing as an example the Academy’s concert at the Ankara Culture Road Festival in late September 2024. The event was exclusively covered by BTA’s correspondent in Ankara. "I believe there is much we can showcase and work on together," he added.

The Prof. Asen Diamandiev Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts of Plovdiv was established in 1964 as a branch of the then Bulgarian State Conservatory in Sofia. The initiative was spearheaded by Bulgarian musician and Plovdiv cultural figure Prof. Asen Diamandiev, with significant contributions from then-rectors of the Bulgarian State Conservatory, Prof. Vladimir Avramov and Prof. Alexander Neynski.

AMDFA is one of Bulgaria’s four higher education institutions specializing in arts and the only one located outside Sofia.