Stefka Blagoeva was the founder and main conductor of the Plovdiv Boys’ Choir in 1975. During her conduct the Choir participated in a large number of music festivals all over Bulgaria and Europe, as well as winning a lot of prestigious music awards.
She was posthumously conferred the title of Honorable Citizen of Plovdiv.
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History of the Plovdiv Boys' Choir
Info: plovdivboyschoir.com
The Plovdiv Boys’ Choir “Stefka Blagoeva” was found in 1975 by the famous choir-master Stefka Blagoeva (1938-2000), who for a very short time turned it into an advanced musical school and one of the best Bulgarian choirs. Since 2003 the choir has been named “Stefka Blagoeva” to commemorate its founder.
In 1994 Milka Toledova has become conductor of the choir. Under her guidance the choir accomplished a set of significant concerts and has been distinguished with honorable prizes from international choral festivals and competitions.
Boys, teenagers and young men from various Plovdiv schools aged 9 - 25 can be members of the “Stefka Blagoeva” Choir, separated in three main choir formations:
The choirs repertoire is quite varied - classical and modern choral songs, cantata-oratorio compositions by Bulgarian and foreign composers, recreations of folklore songs, and many other musical pieces.
The choir has covered rich and dynamic concert schedules in Bulgaria and abroad. It performed in concerts alongside with symphony, chamber, wind, and jazz orchestras; as well as performing in opera spectacles like “Tosca”, “Carmen”, “Hansel and Gretel”, “Carmina Burana”, and others.
The Choir has had concert tours and have participated in choir festivals in Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, the Check Republic, Turkey, Greece, Russia, the Ukraine and other countries.
Due to its high artistic achievements, the Plovdiv Boys’ Choir “Stefka Blagoeva” has been awarded with the following awards:
- the Bulgarian Music and Dancing Actors Union’s Honor Token,
- the special prize “Golden Lira”,
- the Plovdiv City Honor Token
- the Plovdiv Prize for high achievements in the field of Children Art.
This unique choir features many awards from international choral competitions, such as:
- Nerpelt – Belgium, 1982 (Summa cum laude);
- Nanntes – France, 1985 (First Award);
- Tolossa – Spain, 1993 (Third award);
- Ankara – Turkey, 1998 (First Award);
- Hale – Germany, 2001(Special Award „Günter Erdman” for the best interpretation of modern choral composition);
- “Zvuchit Moskva” (First Award) from Moscow, Russia, 2002;
- Celje 2005 – Slovenia (Third award).
The choir has achieved its artistic development thanks to the support and collaboration of key musical experts: the conductor Milka Toledova, the pianist Julia Petrova, as well as the young conductor Krastin Nastev, who is also conductor of Plovdiv State Opera Choir and Secretary of the EU European Choir Federation.
A large number of acknowledged conductors, pianists and vocal instructors contributed greatly to the development of the choir throughout the years: Vessela Dyakova, Galina Vracheva, Zhana Beleva, Theodosia Pankova, Velina Andreeva, Avram Andreev, Boyanka Bahneva, Dessislava Gavrailova and many more.
Since 2006 EU European Choir Federation has conferred upon “Stefka Blagoeva” Boys’ Choir the title of “Choir of the European Union”.
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Contact information:
Plovdiv Boys’ Choir “Stefka Blagoeva”
15, Gladstone St., Plovdiv, Bulgaria
tel. +359 889 47 19 57,
fax. +359 32 650 270,
email: portato@abv.bg
You can also download some of the choir’s songs from their website - here