site.btaMonk Abel in Bulgaria: Here I Leave Piece of My Soul

Monk Abel is visiting Bulgaria again, with a new program and a series of concerts in Sofia, Varna and Burgas. "I have come for the second time and I have prepared a program that includes many new works. I perform different music - from Bach to Piazzolla. There are works by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, as well as more modern composers - such as Paul de Senneville, Alexey Arkhipovsky, Astor Piazzolla. I love the music that I play and that I carry with me," the pianist told BTA.

He received his musical education in his native St Petersburg, first at the Rimsky-Korsakov College and then at the State Conservatory. At the age of 20, he went to Mount Athos, He spent seven years at Docheiariou monastery in Mt Athos, during five of which he was also a construction worker at a new monastery in Sochos (Greece). Monk Abel then lived in Russia's medieval Valaam monastery, where he became an active concert pianist. His mission as a monk-musician is to glorify God and instill love in human hearts because the soul knows, but wants to learn more. Since 2021 he has been actively involved in music.

"Every country I visit becomes special to me. Because here I leave a piece of my soul," says Monk Abel. "Usually when I play in a hall, I don't look at the audience... But many people tell me that they have cried at my concerts. And for me that's a big sign. Because it means that my music touches people's hearts, and that's the most important thing. Maybe, that's one of the explanations why they come to concerts. I don't cry myself, because when you're playing, you're busy with the music you're playing, and you don't have time to cry. Of course I experience music. I guess everybody experiences it in their own way."

"Love one another" is the most important belief which, according to monk Abel, not only Christians, but every person must observe. Has he ever said to himself that there is no need to urge people to love each one another? "No, I have never said that to myself. I think every man should strive for that feeling. Every person should be better so that we don't have to remind each other that we should love each other. It should be in our blood."

In the life of monk Abel there are many events that can be called miracles. "For me it was a miracle that I ended up in Mount Athos at all, and you could say that I was reborn there," he says. Asked if miracles continue to happen to him, he replies laconically: "All life is a miracle."

In high school Monk Abel was a mathematician and pianist. He graduated from the St Petersburg Conservatory. He then devoted himself to God. He spent seven years at Docheiariou monastery which was under construction in Sochos (Greece),  under the spiritual guidance of Archimandrite Gregory. Monk Abel then lived in the Russian medieval monastery of Valaam, where his active concert activity began.

On Ascension Day, in 2012, he suffered a serious accident from which he escaped without a scratch. "Our a truck overturned into a precipice, several meters deep. Our Lady saved us. Let's hope it was for the best," adds the monk with a smile, who, besides his faith, tries to unite people with his talent as a pianist. His mission as a monk musician is to glorify God and instill love in people's hearts because the soul knows, but wants to learn more.