30-12-2022 14:46
With more than 50 years of history, dozens of recordings and many trips around the world, in 2022, the Sofia Boys Choir took on the next challenge - organizing the first international choir festival "Boys Sing". The event took place in October and brought to Bulgaria boys choirs from 3 countries - Iceland, Mexico and the Czech Republic. Counting also the hosts from Sofia and the Varna Boys and Youth Choir, we saw more than 100 performers on stage. They had the attention of over 1,500 viewers who followed the 6 concerts in Sofia, Dupnitsa and Samokov, and many more joined virtually for the live broadcast of the concerts, or watched them afterwards on the festival's YouTube channel. Prof. Dr. Adriana Blagoeva has led the Sofia Boys' Choir since 1989 and is very excited to say, "We are very happy that we have the opportunity to turn Sofia into the capital of boys choir singing. To promote the beauty of this very interesting and exciting type of choir singing. Because when the boys sing, they radiate a very nice emotion, a very nice energy, a joy of singing, and it's very catching and influencing over the audience itself."
Darina Krosneva, conductor of the Varna Boys and Youth Choir, shares a similar opinion: "The festival is unique in its essence, because everyone thinks that only girls can sing. Especially in Bulgaria. The choirs were very different and each one shined with its own light. Each of the choirs showed their own skills, but there was one thing in common – they all looked very, very happy on stage.'' This is actually true – each choir presents typical for its country songs as well as worldwide popular hits. We embark on a journey through Mexico with the Boys Choir at Cedros-UP College, culminating in loud applause and shouts of "¡Viva Mejico!". Next up are the Czechs from “Boni Pueri”, who greet us with “Welcome to Africa”, a compilation of popular Broadway musicals, and other exciting performances. From there we head north towards Iceland. The boys from Reykjavik have prepared many beautiful Icelandic songs. We arrive in Bulgaria - the Sofia boys welcome us with a call for peace around the world and "Gloria", then Varna contributes with "Ganinata maika" by Dobri Hristov. For all of us, the travelers in the hall, there is a shot of positive energy not only from performances, but also from all the smiles and children's enthusiasm to be on stage, to feel the enjoyment of the audience and to be appreciated properly.
To make the whole event even more special, two performances were created especially for the festival - "Viva la Musica" - the anthem of the festival and a song with the name of the festival "Boys Sing", written by Stefan Valdobrev. We talked to him about how he got involved in the project. “I am always venturing into uncharted territory. When they offered me, I said to myself - yes, of course, this is something that will expand my knowledge. Why shouldn't I do it?", he tells, and at our request gives advice to the boys: "They should use their voice for the intended purpose so that when they sing something, it is not just tones, but something very important they want to say to people. To think about exactly what they want to say, what is getting them excited, what makes sense, and when they go on stage, and sing it with those beautiful voices of theirs, it reaches people and moves them."
At the heart of the festival is the partnership between the Sofia Boys Choir and the Reykjavík Boys Choir. Together they apply and win a project under the culture program of the EEA Financial Mechanism. For this, the magic of boy choirs will be transferred to Iceland and the next edition of the festival will be held in 2023 in Reykjavík. Here is what the Icelandic choir conductor Torstein Sigurdsson says: “It was a great experience for me and the boys. In Iceland it's the only boys choir, so this is probably the first opportunity for them to meet other singing boys and see other boys choirs." And also - "I liked the discipline of the other boys choirs and how in our common work the small parts put together make a whole. We look forward to seeing you in Reykjavík next summer.” And if the destination seems far away, we have another piece of news – in the fall of 2023, Sofia will host the third festival, and everyone is welcome. Until then - Viva la Musica!
