Maya's Dream

F. Grofé – orchestral suite Mississippi; Journey in Sounds, Part I The Father of Waters (Bulgarian premiere);

R. Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending for violin and orchestra; Sol. Lia Petrova (violin)

S. Strou – "Maya's Dream," concerto for cello, accordion, and orchestra (Bulgarian premiere); Sol. Vincent Peyrani (accordion), François Salque (cello), Conductor Hristo Pavlov

„Le rêve de Maya“ (Maya's Dream) is a unique double concerto for accordion, cello, and symphony orchestra. It consists of three parts, with an overture and a finale. The musical narrative of this composition is inclusive and lays the foundation for a new idiom, a mixture of different concepts, where the written word intertwines with improvisation. In composing this work, Samuel Struck sheds unconventional light on the heritage of musical languages, drawing inspiration from various sources such as Astor Piazzolla, Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Henri Dutilleux, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maurice Ravel, and traditional Hindustani, Mandingo, and Caribbean music. This virtuosic score for the two soloists delves deeply into the possibilities of the cello and accordion duo, revealing a new palette of timbres and colors inherent in these two instruments.

Maya is a beautiful little girl. In her childish world, everything seems gigantic. She is filled with love and moves carefree through a magical universe where everything is innocent. From the vast steppes of Asia to the bustling suburbs of Buenos Aires, she passionately explores unfamiliar landscapes, immersed in an incredible scenario where change is constant. Her life is steeped in emotion.  "Maya's Dream" may mean "Dream of Love" in Nepal, "Dream of Illusion" in India, and "Dream of Dreams" in Sri Lanka.

Samuel Struck, born in 1980, is a French guitarist, composer, musical arranger, artistic director, and stage director.

He graduated from the Paris National Conservatory with a degree in classical guitar and chamber music from the Montpellier National Conservatory. He works with François Salque, Vincent Peirani, Alexandre Abbré, Franck Rubio, and Rolando Luna. He participates in composing film music, soundtracks for performances, and conducts masterclasses. His compositions have been performed by Svetlin Roussev, Vincent Peirani, and François Salque.

In 2015, he composed a double concerto for accordion, cello, and orchestra, "Maya's Dream," performed a year later in Poitiers and in 2017 in Paris. Since 2019, the double concerto has been regularly performed abroad, in Helsinki under his direction, Moscow, and other Russian cities.

His first album, Silent Walk, was released in 2017. This project, a mixture of classical and jazz, he performs in a quintet with Vincent Peyrani (accordion), François Salque (cello), Diego Ember (double bass), and Florent Poujillaud (bass clarinet).

The Brittany Regional Symphony Orchestra commissioned him in 2017 to compose a concerto for guitar and orchestra as part of the France-Colombia Year.

Samuel Struck is the director and musical director of the musical-poetic project Trentinjan - Daniel Mil - Piazzolla. It was performed in March 2017 at the Pleyel Hall and recorded at the Maison de la Radio for broadcast on France Culture. In 2018, the radio station commissioned him to create a musical adaptation of a series of lectures given in 1973 at Harvard by conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, entitled "An Unanswered Question."

As a guitarist, he composed a concerto entitled "Egalité" (Equality) for the opera in Rennes and was a guest of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia. In 2021, the Vivaldi Festival commissioned him to write a double concerto for cello and guitar in partnership with the French Institute.

In 2021, the Vivacello Festival commissioned him to write a double concerto for cello and guitar in partnership with the French Institute.

Samuel Struck is the artistic director and programmer for the Maisons-Laffitte Jazz Festival and the Classic Jazz Festival Saint-Mandé.

Vincent Peirani, accordion

Like all popular music, jazz is associated with strong personalities. The international recognition enjoyed by French accordionist Vincent Peirani is also a testament to his individuality. Born on April 24, 1980, in Nice, he began playing the accordion at the age of 11, encouraged by his musician father. He studied classical music and clarinet at the Conservatoire de Musique. After brilliant performances in the classical genre (numerous international awards), his dive into the world of jazz was a success from the very beginning and was crowned at the Victoires du Jazz in 2014 ("Revelation") and 2015 ("Artist of the Year").

His musical charisma, brilliant creative skills, and unique approach to art—the result of his communicativeness and openness to the world—evoke an immediate response from listeners.

Vincent Peirani has the ability to turn everything he touches into gold: in jazz, of course (his own projects, but also collaborations with Daniel Hamel, Michel Portal, and others), but also in French chanson (Sanseverino, Les Yeux Noirs), film music (composer for Mathieu Amalric's Barbara in 2017) and other events. Whatever style he pursues, the audience follows him: in his performances, he creates a balance between relatively popular motifs (inventive renditions of well-known themes) and unexpected insights, artistic compositions and popular music very close to each other, a sign of great artistry.

The man who completely revamped the language of the accordion ten years ago (and continues in the same vein) has become a significant artist whose relaxed and cosmopolitan approach to music and sense of instrumental combination and color allow him to exercise a rare, valuable, and magical connection with everything he touches.

 

François Salque, cello

A graduate of Yale University and the Paris Conservatory, François Salque won prizes at international competitions (Geneva, Tchaikovsky, Rostropovich, Rossini, etc.) at a very young age. The "sensitivity and nobility of his performance," combined with his "charisma and exceptional virtuosity" (Pierre Boulez) have earned him at least ten first prizes and as many special awards. His concerts have taken him to more than eighty countries, and his recordings as a soloist and chamber musician have been highly praised in the press.

His commitment to the music of our time has earned him dedications from contemporary composers such as Thierry Escaich, Karol Befa, Jean-Baptiste Robin, Nicolas Bacri, Jean-François Zizel, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Christophe Maratka, Bruno Mantovani... He is also at the origin of a large number of works combining contemporary themes and traditional music, recordings of highly original albums, notably in duo with jazz accordionist Vincent Peirani or with his own group "Loco Cello," accompanied by guitarist Samuel Struck. Teaching also plays an important role in his career. Today, he teaches cello at the Lausanne Higher School of Music and chamber music at the Paris Conservatory.

François Salque plays a magnificent 18th-century Italian cello, generously lent to him by Bernard Magret. His musical intelligence, technique, and eclecticism make him an indispensable figure in contemporary music.

Liya Petrova became a discovery on the international scene in 2016 when she won first prize at the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark, led by Nikolai Sheps-Znaider. Two years later, she recorded Nielsen's Concerto and Prokofiev's First Concerto for Orchid Classics with the Odense Philharmonic Orchestra and Estonian conductor Kristina Puskas. This first album earned her international press acclaim – London's Sunday Times admired her "beautiful sound – mature and silvery, expressed with majestic breadth," Pizzicato in Germany also described her sound as "silvery and clear," and Gramophone praised her exceptional "tonal variety in a wonderful disc." The Strad is impressed by her "natural virtuosity," and Classical Music magazine finds her interpretation of Nielsen's concerto "astonishingly good" and "highly lyrical."

As a soloist, Liya Petrova has been a guest of the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Philharmonie de Luxembourg, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Shatskapelle – Weimar, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, the North German Philharmonic, the National Orchestras of Lyon and Bordeaux, Kansai Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Pays de Loire, Sinfonia Varsovia, Odense Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with leading conductors such as Elim Chan, Stanislaw Kochanowski, Duncan Ward, Philippe Herreweghe, Krzysztof Penderecki, Nikolai Znaider, Magda Dyakun, Yann Tortelier, Xian Zhang, Ariane Matias, Roberto Minassi, Christopher Warren-Green, Michel Tabachnik, and Jesús López Cobos. He regularly performs chamber music with the French winner of the First Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition, Alexander Kantorov, and partners with many wonderful musicians such as Béatrice Rana, Emmanuel Pahud, Pablo Fernández, Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky, Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, James Ehnes, Nicolas Angelich, Frank Braley, Yuja Wang, Gérard Caussé, Antoine Tamestit, Bruno Philip, Aurélien Pascal, and Gautier Capuçon. Lia Petrova is a regular guest at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Ludwigsburger Schloss, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, La Folle Journée in Nantes, La Roque d'Anthéron, and Rencontres Musicales in Evian.

Vratsa Symphony continues and successfully develops the symphonic traditions, authority, and history of the State Philharmonic Orchestra – Vratsa, which existed for decades. Established in 1973, the Philharmonic is the successor to the Vratsa Opera Orchestra, founded in 1909. The orchestra's repertoire includes works from all eras and genres of world music. Bulgarian music occupies a special place in the programs – from the classics to young composers, many of whose works are performed at a number of national and international music festivals. Various opera titles are also regularly presented in concert performances. The management of the institution pays special attention and care to young and children's audiences, for whom children's performances, educational lectures, and concerts are specially created. Cantata-oratorio works are performed in collaboration with some of the best Bulgarian choirs (NFH "St. Obretenov"; "Danube Sounds", "Gena Dimitrova", "Rodina", etc.). Currently, the Vratsa Symphonietta Orchestra consists mainly of young and talented musicians from Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Albania, Turkey, South Korea, the USA, Poland, Great Britain, Colombia, Azerbaijan, etc. Guest soloists in recent years have included prominent musicians such as Bruno Canino, Svetlana Smolina, Plamena Mangova, Liya Petrova, Mario Hosen, Robert Lakatos, Borislava Taneva, Nadezhda Tsanova, Simeon Goshev, Angel Stankov, and Yosif Radionov, Jovan Bogosavljevic, Veselin Demirev, Anne Nagl, Yoana Kamenarska, Zornitsa Ilarionova, Mark Drobinski, Atanas Krastov, Jure Gradisnik, Peter Danailov, Plamen Kumpikov, Plamena Girginova, Mihail Mihaylov, the Four Italian Tenors, the Italian Soprano Trio, and many others. Guest conductors are renowned names from the world stage.

Hristo Pavlov is the director of the Vratsa Symphony Orchestra, conductor of this ensemble in numerous concert programs, and associate professor of symphonic orchestration at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music. He is a lecturer in master's programs at the European Academy of Fine Arts, part of the American University in Dublin, and chief producer of dozens of annual recordings. He has been a guest lecturer at Pulse College, Dublin, and at South-West University "Neofit Rilski," Blagoevgrad. He has been a guest lecturer at Pulse College, Dublin, and at Neofit Rilski South-West University, Blagoevgrad. He has conducted numerous orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra with choir and soloists of the State Music Theater, the choir and orchestra of the Varna Opera, the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra, the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, the Classic FM Radio Orchestra, and others. Until the fall of 2017, he was a permanent guest conductor of the Vratsa Symphony Orchestra (since 2012) and the Sofia Symphony Orchestra (since 2014). He is the founder and conductor of the Sofia Metropolitan Orchestra, a studio orchestra that has participated in hundreds of recording sessions for international film and symphonic productions (also under the name Philharmonia Bulgarica). 

He is a laureate of national and international competitions as a flutist, composer, and conductor. He has made recordings as a performer, composer, arranger, conductor, and music producer for Bulgarian and foreign recording companies, radio and television broadcasts, as well as over 100 world or Bulgarian premieres of concert works created by authors of various nationalities. He is also a composer, orchestrator, and arranger of theater, film, chamber, symphonic, electronic, and pop music. He has also participated many times as a performer, conductor, and arranger in various events in the field of pop, jazz, and rock music. From the end of 1990 to 2014, he worked as a solo flutist in the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has been conducting since 1993. In 2012, he began teaching full-time, combining this with an active conducting career. He has managed hundreds of concerts and recording sessions for Bulgarian and foreign performers, ensembles, and orchestras, realized between 1993 and the present for the needs of over 20 recording, film and concert management companies, as well as various stage and multimedia productions from Bulgaria, Europe, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia. Since 1997, he has been actively involved in music management, working with partners from four continents – Europe, Asia, North and South America.

With the special partnership of the French Institute in Bulgaria, Bioderma, Etat Pur and Servier.