Program:
F. Mendelssohn – Concert Overture "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage" in D major, Op. 27
E. Chausson – "Poème de l'amour et de la mer" (Poem of Love and the Sea), song cycle for soprano and orchestra, Op. 19;
C. Debussy – "La Mer" (The Sea)
Soloist: Ina Kancheva (soprano), Conductor: Hristo Pavlov
POEM OF LOVE AND THE SEA
Ina Kancheva graduated in opera singing at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov in Sofia. Next came scholarships to the European Opera Centre, Manchester, Arena di Verona Foundation, Academy Chiggiana, Placido Domingo Centre of Excellence - Palau de les Arts.
She is a laureate of many prestigious competitions including Young Musical Talents, Pancho Vladigerov, Montserrat Caballe, Manuel Ausensi, Spyros Argiris, DEBUT, Viotti, As.Li.Co, etc. She was awarded "Musician of the Year" 2002 in Bulgaria.
From 2002 to 2006 Ina Kancheva was a soloist of the Hannover Opera House, and from 2005 to 2011 of the Stuttgart Opera House, where she performed the roles of Giulietta from "Capuleti e Montecchi", Mimi from "Bohemi”, Violetta in La Traviata, Countess Adele in “Le Comte d'Ory”, Lucio Cinna in “Lucio Silla”, Micaela in “Carmen”, Fiordiligi in “Cosi fan tutte”, Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte”, etc.
In 2020 and 2021 Ina was in close collaboration with the Radio Orchestra of the Berlin National Radio (RSB) and with them made several recordings and concerts. During this time, she took part in numerous recitals in Madrid, Weimar, Berlin and Paris, as well she took part in several chamber projects of Les Concerts de Poche and France Musique-France and in Juan March Foundation-Spain among others.
She has appeared as a soloist in different festivals in Bulgaria and abroad, as well as in a numerous opera house in Germany, the Royal Danish Opera, Covent Garden in London, La Scala in Milan, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, etc.
Ina has worked with internationally renowned conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel Manfred Honeck, Enrique Mazzola, Vladimir Jurowski, Alberto Zedda, Gianluigi Gellmetti, Vasiliy Petrenko, Marc Piollet, Julia Jones, Sir Neville Marriner, Jiří Belohlavek, Konrad Junghänel, Sebastian Rouland, as well as with leading specialists in the field of Baroque music such as René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Fabio Biondi, Stefano Montanari among others.
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.
