site.btaCairo Opera House Concertmaster Tsvetelina Krasteva to Perform With Ruse Festival Orchestra at March Music Days

Since 2010 graduates of the National School of Arts in Ruse have been gathering from all over the world to perform together in the March Music Days Festival. Among them is Tsvetelina Krasteva, concertmaster of the Cairo Opera House, who hasn’t missed a single festival edition. “I schedule my work commitments throughout the year so that I am able to return to may native Ruse for the festival and the gathering of the orchestra,” Krasteva tells BTA.

She has particularly vivid memories of the establishment of the Ruse Festival Orchestra in 2010 to mark the 50th anniversary of the music school and the 50th anniversary of the festival itself. “I hadn’t seen some of my school mates since graduation and all of a sudden we were meeting to play together,” says Krasteva who has played with the orchestra of the Cairo Opera House since 2002 and has been its concertmaster since 2007.

“It is a challenge to put together an orchestra and stage a concert in two or three days. It works because the musicians are professionals and because of the emotion and energy when we are together,” says Krasteva. “We are like a family and because we get together for a brief time, we don’t see it as work, but as pleasure.”

“I grew up with this festival and it is very dear to me. Being part of the festival is a great honour and pleasure. The fact that I am making music with friends and colleagues with whom I have studied together, and under the baton of a renowned conductor such as Emil Tabakov, makes me feel excited and elated.”

This year the Ruse Festival Orchestra under the baton of Emil Tabakov will close the March Music Days Festival on March 27. Pianist Alexander Gadjiev will be soloist.

March Music Days is on until March 27. It will bring to the stage over 600 performers from Bulgaria and other countries, seven orchestral programs, 11 ensemble concerts, an opera performance and two exhibitions. The festival is organized by the Ruse City Hall with the support of the Culture Ministry. BTA is among the media partners.