For the 24th time the Bulgarian National Radio and the team of the Allegro vivace music show gave the Musician of the Year Prize at a gala in Bulgaria Hall held on 9 May. The show's listeners have appointed Vania Moneva Musician of the Year 2014. Mrs. Moneva is choir conductor and producer at BNR. As a leader of the Cosmic Voices Choir she has been working on projects in various genres.

Apart from the Musician of the Year Grand Prix, a unique bronze statuette, winners have been selected in other categories as well, such as Creative Activity, Ensemble of the Year, Music Project of the Year and Premiere of the Year. Over time, the team of Allegro vivace has been keen to encourage the youngest performers through the category Young Musician of the Year. This time the prize went to pianist Lilly Bogdanova, currently a student at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. She is trained by Prof. Borislava Taneva.

The debut of violinist Slava Atanasova did not go unnoticed by the lovers of serious music either. Last year the 12th grade student from the Lubomir Pipkov National High School of Music had her first solo appearance at the prestigious Bulgaria Hall in Sofia.

The Piano Extravaganza festival with artistic director Ludmil Angelov received the prize for Music Project of the Year 2014. The festival was launched in 2011 seeking to promote music works of high artistic merit by composers undeservedly outshined by their colleagues.

Pianist and organist Yanko Marinov was singled out for Creative Activity, and the State Opera House in Rousse won the prize Ensemble of the Year. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to choir conductor from Burgas Viara Mihailova for her 40-year work in choral art.

English Daniela Konstantinova

Audio file contains the following works:

1. Cosmic Voices Choir: Sweet Cherry, a folk song

2. Pianist Lilly Bogdanova: The Girl with Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy

3. Pianist Ludmil Angelov: Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 3 (finale) by Pancho Vladigerov, with the BNR Symphony Orchestra