The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Symphony Orchestra will try to reach a wider audience in the new season, BNR Director General Milen Mitev said here on Monday at a presentation of the orchestra’s new programme and new chief conductor, Konstantin Ilievski. He added that every musical ensemble needs development and change, and he hopes this change will be for the better.
Ilievski’s first performance is scheduled for September 20 at Bulgaria Concert Hall. His first joint performance with the BNR Symphony Orchestra was in 2017, and since then he and the musicians have built mutual trust, he said.
The main focus of the new season will be the promotion of Bulgarian music. Every BNR concert will include at least one piece composed by a Bulgarian. The Radio will seek balance between established names and young performers.
Ilievski said that each concert will offer a special experience and mentioned two in particular: Live Art with Tiina Osara, who will be painting live, while the orchestra is playing, and French Charm, which will have the musicians perform parts of the ballet Romeo and Juliet under the baton of Marie Jacquot.
Several concerts will be dedicated to the youngest audiences with Camille Saint-Saens’s The Carnival of the Animals.
BNR has planned a rich recording season ahead. Next year marks the 120th anniversary of Lyubomir Pipkov’s birth. On this occasion, two of his compositions will be recorded – Wedding for choir and orchestra and Concerto for clarinet and orchestra. The orchestra will also record Pancho Vladigerov’s symphonic prelude Solitude.
/DS/
