“With Kichka Savova’s Songs” masterclass gathers talented folk musicians

published on 9/12/22 2:10 PM

Photo: Bozhidar Cholakov

For the second consecutive year, the winners of the international folklore festival “With Kichka Savova’s Songs” took part in a masterclass as a reward for their good performance. The festival and the master class are organized by the Kichka Savova Foundation, headed by Stefka Zdravkova, daughter of the renowned Thracian singer.

Anna and Alexandra Prodanovi with Stefka Zdravkova, Kichka Savova's daughter

“This is my mother’s testament in the name of folklore’s future–Stefka Zdravkova said in an interview for the BNR-Kardzhali. – For the second consecutive year, the master class “With Kichka Savova’s Songs” is held under the mentorship of vocal pedagogue Darina Slavcheva-Slavova. Darina is a wonderful folk singer, soloist of Trakia Ensemble. She lectures at the National Academy of Music “Professor Pancho Vladigerov” and was my mother’s favorite student. I would like to make it clear that children who won the grand prize of this year’s (11^th) edition of the International Folklore Festival “With Kichka Savova’s Songs”, are participating at the master class. The master class is a joint project of Kichka Savova Foundation and Darina Slavcheva-Slavova. These children are the future of Bulgarian folklore”.

Here is what Darina Slavcheva-Slavova said before the gala concert of the young Bulgarian talents:

Bozhidar Dachev and Darina Slavcheva-Slavova

“All participants are united by their love for singing. They are filled with the hope of learning something new, to explore the life and the professional career of their role model, Kichka Savova, and demonstrate their knowledge and skills at the gala concert.Singers Zlatomir Dimitrov and Bozhidar Dachev are taking part at the festival for the first time. Songs that are suitable for a male voice have been selected especially for them. They are extremely talented singers. I tried to select popular songs from Kichka Savova’s music repertoire for the master class. I also picked some little known pieces. They are tailored to the age of the children in terms of voice range and emotion. Perhaps, it was a bit more difficult for the youngest ones, Ihaya Zhelyazkova and Maria Hristova, because they had to learn longer lyrics, but they did a good job. I am also very pleased with the other competitors-Nikol Uzunova, Anna Prodanova, Alexandrina Prodanova and Anastasia Pileva.”