BNR Children's Choir competes for the Silver Rose Grand Prix

published on 10/5/24 7:15 AM

Photo: Facebook /detskiradiohor

The BNR Children's Choir is one of the finalists in the prestigious Let the Peoples Sing international competition for non-professional choirs. The competition is under the patronage of the European Broadcasting Union. Eight ensembles, four in each of the two categories 'Children and Youth' and 'Adults', will compete in the final round of the competition.

The BNR Children's Choir will perform in its category against three ensembles from Denmark, Finland and Switzerland - the Copenhagen Girls Choir, Chorus Iucundus and "incantanti".

The finals of Let the Peoples Sing will take place on 6 October 2024 and will be broadcast live on the radio stations of the European Broadcasting Union at 20.00 Bulgarian time. This year's presentation of the Silver Rose Grand Prix candidates is interesting: each finalist will sing in its home country. The choirs' performances will be coordinated by BBC London.

"This is a very old competition. It was first organised by BBC in 1961. Since then it has expanded to a big international competition under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It is held every two years," explains Maya Pelovska from the International Department of Bulgarian National Radio, who is coordinating Bulgaria's participation.

"It's a big challenge for us because the BBC is organising the whole show, which will also be broadcast live by the BNR's culture programme, Hristo Botev. There will be a central presenter who will introduce all the choirs in the order of their participation, and in the children's category we are the first - at 20.15 you can expect the performance of the BNR Children's Choir and its conductor Maestra Venetsiya Karamanova.

The jury will first announce the winner in this category, and then the competition will move on to the "Adults" category. Finally, when the winners of both categories are known, the jury will convene again and announce the big winner - the winner of the "Silver Rose Cup".

In the history of the competition, two Bulgarian choirs nominated by Bulgarian National Radio have won the Grand Prix. These are the Rodna Pesen Choir, conducted by Mikhail Milkov, in 1968, and the Sofia Chamber Choir of the Gara Iskar Community Centre, now named after its conductor Vasil Arnaudov, in 1973," explains Slava Georgieva from the International Relations Department of Bulgarian National Radio.

"But there are also many first prizes won by Bulgarian choirs in the various categories of the Let the Peoples Sing competition. This year there are choirs with great achievements in the finals and the competition will be really tough".

"We hope that the Children's Choir of the Bulgarian National Radio will give a very good performance," said its conductor Maestra Venetsiya Karamanova.

"My choice for the participation in the competition are 3 works from different genres and periods. One is from the 16th century, the other is a contemporary piece by a Norwegian composer. Of course, Bulgarian music had to be present, so we performed Dimitar Hristov's composition "Song without Words". It's folk-based, with lots of fiery rhythms, and uses the children's voices as a musical instrument. I hope that the jury will appreciate the potential of a children's choir," explained Maestra Karamanova.

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At the EBU Let the Peoples Sing International Choir Contest

BNR Children's Choir competes for the Silver Rose Grand Prix

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