The youngest artists of the Bulgarian National Radio, the Radio Children vocal group conducted by Ilina Todorova, will once again take the stage BNR’s Studio 1 at 7 pm on May 18 to present music from Bulgarian and international children's films.

This time they will be accompanied by musicians from the BNR’s Big Band with conductor Antoni Donchev, as well as actor Simeon Vladov. The concert is called "Films of Childhood" and has been eagerly awaited - it was planned even before the start of the pandemic. Conductor Ilina Todorova tells Radio Bulgaria more:

"This is a project that we have done before, but then we were not able to cover the entire program. And now our children will perform all the songs from this concert. First, there are Bulgarian songs from children's films, and then there are songs from world-famous animated films, such as The Lion King, Finding Nemo, The Jungle Book - all children's favorites. And the Bulgarian ones too - we want to remind you about these films that generations grew up with, such as Hedgehogs Are Born Without Spines, Exams at Any Odd Time, Unexpected Vacation... These films were created in the 1970s, 1980s, but the songs are very beautiful, with a nice melody. The songs themselves are unique, they can exist outside of the films and I think they've been proving that for so many years."‎

At the concert, before each performance there will be a story related to the song - when and by whom it was created, what the film plot itself tells. Most of the Bulgarian melodies are by the prominent Bulgarian composer Petar Stupel, with which the performers mark the 100^th anniversary of his birth. At the end of the concert, they have prepared a surprise - they end with a song by Vili Kazasyan, with which they want to pay tribute to the creator of the BNR’s Big Band. ‎

Days after the concert, the Radio Children will face another challenge - they will travel for the French city of Loches, where from May 21 to 26 they will represent Bulgaria in the International Arts Festival in the Loire Valley. They have already had four successful performances there, even during the pandemic they have participated online several times. Now the live events have been restored and our young singers will meet their friends from Mexico, Jordan, Vietnam, Italy... According to the conductor of the vocal group Ilina Todorova, children's participation in this forum is extremely useful:‎

"I want all the people who are there to see that there are some wonderful Bulgarian children, talented, who sing well, speak languages... At the same time, they communicate through the arts - whether through dance, whether through some kind of game, some play instruments, four years ago there was also a choir from the United States... it's something very valuable that gives them an impetus and I think it changes them for the better." ‎

To represent Bulgaria at the festival in France, the Radio Children have prepared a video with drone footage of the Belogradchik rocks. Traditionally, they also visited one of the classes of the prestigious Saint-Denis international school where children from all over the world study - USA, South Korea, Kazakhstan, etc. Then the students ask our children questions about their country and make the national flag of the visiting country out of paper. ‎

"The most interesting thing is that one year there was a class, third or fourth grade, and the children were dressed in such clothes - in white, green and red. Extremely pleasant - to go somewhere on the other side of Europe and see some little children who are eagerly waiting for you to tell them something."‎

Our Radio Children answer questions about Bulgaria, sing the national anthem, explain the content of the lyrics of the songs they perform - the children communicate and in this way each of them is a young ambassador of Bulgarian culture. ‎

In the video, you can listen to some of the songs in the concert "Films from Childhood", with the Radio Children vocal group and the Big Band of the BNR, with conductors Ilina Todorova and Antoni Donchev.‎