On 8 October Studio No. 1 of the Bulgarian National Radio plays host to a concert of famous jazz pianist and composer Martio Stantchev and foremost flutist Prof. Lydia Oshavkova. „This is music in the classical tradition but with a pinch of jazz though”, Mario tells us.

Stantchev was born in Bulgaria and graduated from the National Academy of Music in Sofia. He has been living in France for decades and is the founder of the Jazz Department at Lyon Conservatory. The program that will be presented in Bulgaria for the first time, includes pieces for flute and piano released in France and performed there and Switzerland.

More details about the concert on 8 October from Mario Stantchev:

„The concert is stylistically diverse because pieces have been written at different times. I should like to make a point that the idea to present this program in Bulgaria emerged owing to my long friendship with leading Bulgarian flutist Prof. Lydia Oshavkova. Apart from duets with her I am also presenting some of my solo works. These include Six Impressions employing some methods from contemporary music. Miniatures for Flute and Piano are based on quite characteristic themes. And in Four Reminiscences after Gershwin for Flute and Piano I use the harmonious luggage that I have collected in my experience as a jazzman. The program closes with Friendship, a piece with distinct Bulgarian elements. In some pieces we have left some room for improvisation - this practice was once part of classical music but has long been forgotten.”

The Bulgarian soul and sound is detectable in almost all works in the program, though in a very subtle and non-obvious way. For example, in pieces on themes by Gershwin, a few varieties of Bulgarian irregular beats have been used. Friendship was the name of the French sextet founded and led by Mario Stantchev. The jazz musician is engaged in projects with a few bands in France. In the recent years he has been active with his Bulgarian trio in which he has teamed up with Hristo Yotsov (percussion) and Dimitar Karamfilov (double bass). The three musicians have released an album and have presented it in Bulgaria and France. In a few days they are going to register one of Mario Stantchev's works and will be joined by a few Bulgarian instrumentalists. The recording is meant to become a sound anthology and has been devised by famous Bulgarian trumpeter Ventsi Blagoev.

In the spring of 2016 two other albums will be released with the participation of Mario Stantchev. One of them features a program from his joint tour with two renowned saxophonists, George Garzone and Lionel Martin. The project's story is quite interesting - the idea was born in Bulgaria when the three met at the Jazz Festival in Stara Zagora.

After the concert at the Bulgarian National Radio Prof. Lydia Oshavkova and Mario Stantchev plan to make recordings for an album with the music they perform together.

The audio file contains the following pieces:

1. Dido and Aeneas by Mario Stantchev, an unplugged performance of Mario Stantchev Trio

2. Like Monk by Mario Stantchev performed by Mario Stantchev (piano) and Michel Perez (guitar)

English Daniela Konstantinova