Even though it is widely believed that to be a composer is a man’s profession, a young lady is confidently reaping successes in this man’s world.

Emelina Gorcheva is holder of six awards for composition, three of which international. She has graduated the Pancho Vladigerov National Music Academy in the class of Yovcho Krushev. The musical Enough is her graduation work. She has a team of 43, students and lecturers from all conservatoire faculties, as well as students from the National Arts Academy.

Here is Emelina Gorcheva to tell us how it all began:

“I had an idea to write an opera, but fate brought me together with talented librettist Yoana Mircheva. Her libretto touched me to my very core so I decided to turn to musical comedy. It was a challenge and I hope it shall be a success. The action takes place in New York. I myself have never been there but I collected a great deal of information from all kinds of sources. In my mind’s eye I endeavoured to immerse myself in the city’s atmosphere. Still, I didn’t want the music to sound like a cliché, I wanted an original project in the Bulgarian language. I have not tried to copy American models.”

One of the original instruments that are part of the choreography, typical of the musical is the Peruvian percussion instrument called cajón. In Enough, this instrument is played during the tango.

“A musical comedy by the youngest generation of Bulgarian musicians for an audience their own age and living in their own time,” this is the motto that brings together the talent of all artists involved in the project. It took Emelina Gorcheva nine months to compose it. The premiere was at the Music Theatre in 2014 and was a resounding success. The young composer says that she aims to bring her work to a broader audience:

“At the moment we are trying to stage the musical around Bulgaria. At this stage we have no specific information. I am hoping to be able to show it to more people soon. It is something that is entirely new so I think people would be interested.”

Emelina Gorcheva says she knows she still has a long way to go in the man’s world of composers. Yet this only pushes her to forge ahead.

“My interest in composition came spontaneously. I started to write music when I was 16. That was when I met my future professor at the music academy - Yovcho Krushev and he undertook to mould me as a musician. To this day I have never stopped writing music in almost all genres. I am more focused on classical music, but I also have an aptitude for the more modern forms. My mentor would always tell me to follow my own self. I shall never forget the invaluable advice he gave me – to never vacillate towards things vulgar or meaningless that are an end in themselves. We have a responsibility to our own selves as artistes, but also to others, because art is also an instrument of education.”

English version: Milena Daynova