„The idea for the academy came from Mrs Petya Velikova, its CEO. She attended a flute master class in Burgas and invited me to lead such a summer class in Sozopol. This was ten years ago. For the first seasons of the event we focused on the flute, but we gradually added other instruments for a more diverse Summer Academy. It would have hardly survived without the enthusiasm of Petya Velikova.”

For the last ten years the Summer Academy of the Arts was held on the premises of the Art Gallery in ancient Sozopol. However the gallery is now in a process of reconstruction, so the final concerts of the master classes will be given in the hall of the Museum of Zoology.

„There has been growing interest in the academy”, Prof. Georgi Spassov says. “So we try to cover larger territories of art. For a long time, we have planned a master class in acting and it has become a fact this year thanks to the directors from OFFENSICHT, Austria. We have invited opera diva Darina Takova for an opera singing master class. Young talents are again privileged to work with jazz legend Yildiz Ibrahimova. A new master class this year is a class in chamber music led by violinist Prof. Angel Stankov. This year, the friends of the academy are here again: Prof. Petko Radev (clarinet), Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazi (violin), Prof. Anatoly Krastev (cello) and Maria Prinz (piano). Prof Svetlozar Bentchev continues his classes in painting. We are glad that this year for the first time, famous folk singer Binka Dobreva has joined the Summer Academy of Arts in Sozopol.”

English Daniela Konstantinova

The audio to this file features the following tracks:

1/ Pastoral by Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin, in the rendition of Georgi Spassov, flute

2/ Allegro from Sonata inG Major by Mozart, afragment, performed by Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazi (violin)

3/ A Star Flew Up, folk song, singing Binka Dobreva