Sofia boys choir

Sofia Boys'Choir
Origin	Sofia, Bulgaria
Genres	Choral, orthodox, Bulgarian folk, classical, Catholic
Years active	1968 (1968)–present

The Sofia Boys' Choir is the first boys choir in Bulgaria, founded in 1968. The performers, aged 8–15, are selected from schools in Sofia. The founder and first conductor of the choir was Lilyana Todorova; she served from 1968 to 1989. Prof. Dr. Adriana Blagoeva has been conductor of the choir since 1989. She graduated from the National Musical Academy in Sofia as choir conductor. Nowadays, besides her active conducting work, she is professor in choral conducting at the National Musical Academy. In 1997 she founded the Youth Formation with the Sofia Boys Choir, consisting of former members of the boys choir. Today the choir is presented in three formations – boys, youth and mixed. Zornitsa Getova has been choirmaster and pianist of the choir since 1999.

The Sofia Boys Choir has very wide repertoire: Bulgarian choral music, Orthodox music, Bulgarian folk music, Catholic music, choral pieces of various musical genres from the 14th century to today and participations in musicals and operas. There are many recordings of the Sofia boys choir in the musical archives of Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and Bulgarian National Television (BNT). The choir has issued 9 solo audio CDs and has participated in another 9 with other musicians (see external link below "Discography").

Since 1993, the Sofia Boys Choir has won many awards at international choral competitions: one Grand prize, five First prizes, and five Second prizes. The choir has been awarded the Musician of the Year prize in 2002 by the Allegro Vivace radio programme of the Bulgarian National Radio, The Silver Lyre in 1998, The Golden Lyre in 2003 and The Crystal Lyre in 2009 and 2012 by the Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers Union, The Golden Plaque by the Bulgarian Choral Union, Golden Quill for contribution to Bulgarian culture.

The Sofia Boys Choir has toured in Russia, Greece, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Belgium and Japan.

External links

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