Game of Choirs

17 choir formations, with no age or genre limit, were admitted to the preliminary casting of the project ‘Game of Choirs’.

5 choirs were approved at the casting:

The choir to the National School of Folk Arts ‘Filip Kutev’ was founded in 1967. 12 selected students participate in it, singing folk songs from different regions in Bulgaria. The choir has given concerts in the USA, Costa Rica, Italy, France, Russia, Germany, etc. In 2015, the choir won the first place at the International Chorus Competition in Istanbul, Turkey.

‘Fortissimo’ Vocal Ensemble is composed of students from the National School of Music and Performing Arts ‘Prof. Pancho Vladigerov’. Its repertoire consists of arrangements of pieces of music, different in style and genre – classical music with beatbox elements, folk music, Bulgarian and international pop and rock music.

Mixed Choir ‘Zvanika’ was founded in 1984. Over 500 children have participated in the choir throughout the years. Their repertoire consists of more than 80 titles of songs by Bulgarian composers and foreign authors. The choir has had performances in concerts in Germany, Russia, Belgium, Wales, France, Greece, etc.

Men’s Choir ‘Sveti Ivan Rislki’ had been a founder of male choral singing in Bulgaria since 1894. The choir was revived in 1965. It is headed by a woman – the conductor Tanya Kamburova. The choir has won awards in Germany, Italy and in other choir contests.

Plovdiv Singers’ Society ‘Angel Bukoreshtliev’ was founded in 1896. It celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. As part of its repertoire, Plovdiv Singers’ Society performs songs of Angel Bukoreshtliev, Petko Staynov, Panayot Pipkov, Dobri Hristov, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Franz Gruber, Mozart, etc.

In the course of three months, the participants in the ‘Game of Choirs’ contest performed 9 tasks, among them: popular Bulgarian songs, film songs, Russian songs on the occasion of the victory over Hitler’s fascism, songs from the Balkans, heavy metal songs, songs by Adele, and songs by ABBA. In the finale, participants had to perform 2 tasks– sing a song by Emil Dimitrov and a song of choice.

Final ranking in ‘Game of Choirs’ was formed 50% by the jury assessments and 50% by viewers’ votes. The finale was thus won by ‘Fortissimo’ Vocal Ensemble. Its prize was participation in one of the most prestigious European choral festivals – the newest event of Interkultur, world’s leading organizer of international choral competitions, On Stage in Prague.