site.btaSofia Philharmonic Performs in Grand Hall at Berlin Philharmonic Monday

The Sofia Philharmonic will be performing on the stage of the Grosser Saal of the Berlin Philharmonic on December 12, as one of the most significant events in the field of Bulgarian-German cultural relations in recent years, in the words of Borislav Petranov, director of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute (BCI) in Berlin. The event is taking place on BCI's initiative.

Bulgarian Culture Minister Velislav Minekov will be in the audience.

The programme includes Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 by Pancho Vladigerov and Symphony No. 4 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdi. The event features soloist virtuoso Bulgarian pianist Ludmil Angelov, and conductor Maestro Nayden Todorov.

"It is a great responsibility for us to present Bulgarian culture in this emblematic hall. Pancho Vladigerov's life is closely connected with Berlin. He won the Mendelssohn Prize twice while specializing at the Berlin Academy of Music. He also composed some of his most significant works there. With this concert, we want to showcase these cultural links," said Maestro Nayden Todorov.

The BCI in Berlin was founded in 1962 as a cultural centre in the former GDR with the main task of popularizing Bulgarian books and recordings. Since 1962, it has promoted cultural exchange between Bulgaria and Germany and presented an up-to-date picture of Bulgarian art. It transformed into a cultural institute in 1997. Over the years, the Institute has established itself not only as a centre for the dissemination of Bulgarian culture, but has also been involved in the organization of bilateral diplomatic meetings between Bulgaria and Germany. In 2019, a chamber orchestra from the Sofia Philharmonic was a special guest at the celebration of the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Germany.