site.bta50th Anniversary Edition of Winter Musical Evenings Festival Opens in Pazardzhik

The 50th anniversary edition of the International Festival of Symphonic and Contemporary Music Winter Musical Evenings – Prof. Ivan Spasov opened in Pazardzhik on Thursday. The event began with the Vardar Rhapsody and is being held at the Maestro Georgi Atanasov Concert Hall.

"The heart of Pazardzhik beats for cultural life," Pazardzhik Mayor Petar Kulenski said at the opening. "The International Festival of Symphonic and Contemporary Music Winter Musical Evenings – Prof. Ivan Spasov is one of Bulgaria’s cultural landmarks. Fifty years is a significant milestone. Over the next four days, Pazardzhik will be the centre of cultural life, and this brings us great joy. I thank everyone involved in organising this event," Kulenski added.

Official guests included Pazardzhik Regional Governor Valentina Kaitazova, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, State Opera Plovdiv General Music Director Dian Tchobanov, and members of Parliament.

The programme on the first evening featured Piano Concerto No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven, the symphonic poem Macbeth by Richard Strauss, and performances by the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra conducted by Grigor Palikarov, with Emanuil Ivanov as the piano soloist.

Symphonic music enthusiasts heard Ivanov’s performance of the finale from Symphony for Solo Piano by Charles-Valentin Alkan, which received a standing ovation. A graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Ivanov was the soloist for the festival’s opening concert and is a laureate of the prestigious Ferruccio Busoni Prize.

"For me, this is a very special feeling because I have returned to my home stage," Ivanov told BTA. "I was born in Pazardzhik. I have not participated in the festival since 2020, and it was a great honour and pleasure for me," the pianist added.

The Contemporary Bulgarian Graphics exhibition, which is part of the festival, opened before the festival began.

The programme for the second evening includes a chamber concert Bulgarian Gold, featuring popular works by Bulgarian composers, performed by mezzo-soprano Gergana Rusekova and pianist Denitsa Petrova.