The members of the Sofia Philharmonic met with the Chinese audience for the first time in its ninety-year-long history. The musicians said good bye to 2018 at the stage of the crowded music hall in Chongqing which is among the four biggest cities in China.

Bulgarian composer and musician Vladimir Djambazov has been playing the horn for many years at the Sofia Philharmonic. Here is what he told Radio Bulgaria about their tour in China:

The first tour of the Sofia Philharmonic in China was very successful. I have been honored to be part of this music formation for 38 year now and a toured many countries with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, including the Far East. However, this was the first time we played for the Chinese audience. I and my colleagues are extremely happy that at least 10,000 Chinese learned where Bulgaria is and what Bulgarian music art is after our tour in that Asian country. We toured twelve cities in 20 days only-Shanghai, Dalian, Chengdu, Ningbo, Beijing, etc. We also performed in Chongqing which has a population of 30 million people and is home of 14 ethnic groups. The dimensions of these cities are huge and you cannot imagine how they look like until you see them with your own eyes. They manage to fulfill large-scale projects and for the purpose they build the necessary halls. Our orchestra performed in brand-new concert halls which differ a lot in architecture and acoustics from music halls in other countries. China has been extremely open to culture events in the recent years. Many children attended our concerts as well, Vladimir Djambazov said and added:

The preparation of this music tour was very difficult, mainly because of the long and multiple flights. We had to fly huge distances almost every day during our tour in China. Nearly half of the members of the Sofia Philharmonic (52 people) departed for the Chinese tour. We invited some soloists for the tour such as soprano Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova and tenor Dayan Maksimovic (Serbia). We presented in our concert programme pieces by Straus (father and son), arias from operas and operettas, Hungarian Dances from Johannes Brahms…. a repertoire which is very popular in Bulgaria, but not so popular among the Chinese audience. We celebrated the Christmas and New Year holidays with this music. These holidays are not part of the Chinese culture, but the local people accept them well as part of this country’s efforts to open to the world. The Chinese audience is extremely curious and likes music a lot. They enjoyed our performance with huge interest and some people from the audience measured the rhythm of the pieces with their hands and the children copied their parents.

Konstantin Ilievski and Anthony Armore (Italy/USA) conducted the concerts of the Sofia Philharmonic in China. A lot of media informed about the performances of the Sofia Philharmonic orchestra which received invitations to tour China again.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov