Off the Beaten Path Bulgarian Festival returns to New York with three premieres

The "Off the Beaten Path" chamber music festival will be presented on December 10 in New York, pianist Lora Tchekoratova and the Consulate General of Bulgaria in New York announced. The musical event will take place at 7:30 p.m. local time at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

• Pianist Lora Tchekoratova honoured by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York

“Along an untrodden path, between the Rhodope village of Kovachevitsa and New York, three American premieres of music from Bulgaria reach us”, the diplomatic mission wrote on its Facebook page.

The concert program includes “Cobble Tale” by highly acclaimed Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova, Three Madrigals for Piano Trio by Kenji Bunch, and “…when space began to toll…” for chamber ensemble and electronics by Bulgarian composer Peter Kerkelov. The performers will include violinists Georgy Valtchev and Aleksandrina Boyanova, violist Kenji Bunch, cellists Ari Evan and Madeline Fayette, clarinetist Moran Katz, pianist Lora Tchekoratova, and mezzo-soprano Mariana Karpatova.

The “Off the Beaten Path” chamber music festival was created by Bulgarian classical musicians who live and work abroad. The idea emerged in 2017, with Lora Chekoratova as its main initiator, BTA reports.

• The Off the Beaten Path chamber music festival in the Rhodope Mountains

The heart of the festival became the “Svetlina” community center in the village of Kovachevitsa in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains, built in 1956, which the organizers found in poor condition. After volunteer work, donations, and efforts by the team, the roof was replaced and the building was renovated. Thus, the community center was transformed into a venue for chamber music, distinguished by excellent acoustics and a unique spiritual atmosphere.

Edited by Diana Tsankova
English version: R. Petkova