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MUNICIPAL CHILDREN’S COMPLEX – VARNA
ANNOTATION
VARNA’S CHILDREN-YOUTH OPERA
VARNA’S CHILDREN-YOUTH OPERA (VCYO) at CHILDREN’S COMPLEX – Varna, Bulgaria, was established in 1993 and represents a unique organization in this country. It is made up of 4 formations – soloists, a choir, ballet dancers and an orchestra – involving more than 80 children and juveniles aged between 6 and 18.
VCYO operates through an artistic team of esteemed professionals: Gancho Ganchev – Artistic Director and conductor, Miglena Shisheva – choirmaster and pianist; Petya Petkova – theatrical pedagogue, Bistra Bachvarova – ballet-master; Galina Stanisheva – vocal pedagogue, Todor Ignatov – artist and scenic designer.
The team of artists is committed to helping young artists perform on the stage in various musical genres, concert performances of vocal, instrumental and vocal and instrumental works.
Since its establishment the Varna’s Children-Youth Opera has set more than 12 musicals on stage and most of them are world famous works – the children’s opera The Little Chimney Sweeper by Benjamin Britten, the musical Scrooge by James Lacey (based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens), A Christmas Fairy Tale by Elzbieta Eisimont, the musical The Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein’s musical A West Side Story, and others. Some of the very successful Bulgarian musicals that were performed on stage were Vacation in the Village, Tip and Top from the Planet Flop by Georgi Zanev, the musical fairy tale Puk with writer Valeri Petrov and composer Andrey Drenikov, One American Weekend by Aleksandar Yosifov, and others. The formations have performed a number choir, instrumental and ballet works on the concert stage.
VCYO has participated also in productions of Varna’s Opera and Philharmonic Society such as Carmen by G. Bizet, Othello by J. Verdi, Turandot by J. Puccini, that were performed also at the Varna Summer International Musical Festival jointly with world known Bulgarian singers such as Gena Dimitrova, Galina Savova, Emil Ivanov, etc.
Since 1999 the team has participated regularly in the annual national festival of opera art in Bulgaria /Stara Zagora/ along with the professional opera theatres from the rest of the country.
In November 1999 VCYO staged a charitable performance of The Little Chimney Sweeper by Benjamin Britten in sofia under the aegis of Mr. R. Stagg, the English ambassador in Bulgaria.
In December 1999 VCO undertook a big opera concert tour in Toronto, Canada, at the invitation of the Canadian Children’s Opera Choir (ССОС). The tour became possible with the assistance of the Bulgarian Consular Service in Canada and the Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Toronto. The performers showed three productions of the children’s opera The Little Chimney Sweeper (two of them were staged at the на du Maurier Theatre). The formations of the children’s opera held individual concerts and participated in joint Christmas concerts. The orchestra held an individual concert and made records at one of the most famous halls in Toronto – Glen Gould Studio.
In December 2001 VCYO performed the musical Scrooge by James Lacey, based on the Charles Dickens’ novel Christmas Carol. It was greatly applauded by the audience in Varna. The musical was then performed on other theatrical stages in North Eastern Bulgaria. In July 2003 the VCYO children participated in Carmina Burana by Carl Orff – a production of Varna’s Opera and Philharmonic Society at the Varna Summer International Musical Festival. The same production was staged at the New Year’s Musical Festival held in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. In December 2003 VCYO celebrated its 10th artistic jubilee with the Harold Arlen’s musical The Wizard of Oz. Apart from its numerous performances in the country, VCYO had a tour to Kiev, Ukraine, in the spring of 2004. In April 2004 VCYO showed a premiere of One American Weekend based on Mark Twain’s novel of Tom Soyer jointly with the Opera and Philharmonic Society. Aleksandar Yosifov’s musical, staged by the artistic group involving Gancho Ganchev – conductor, Nikolay Aprilov – director, Ivan Tokadzhiev – artist–painter and Ekaterina Cheshmedzhieva – choreographer, is regularly present in the program of Varna’s Opera and Philharmonic Society and enjoyed by the children’s audience. VCYO participates in a number of concerts organized by the Municipal Children’s Complex and Varna Municipality along with the staging of various productions.
In March 2006 VCYO staged Leonard Berstein’s musical West Side Story – one of the most famous musicals staged worldwide – as a co-production jointly with Varna’s Opera and Philharmonic Society. The stage team with members Gancho Ganchev – conductor, Kostadin Bandutov – stage director, Konstantin Iliev – choreographer, Todor Ignatov – scenic designer, Miglena Shisheva – choirmaster and pianist and the pedagogues – Petya Petkova – actress, Bistra Bachvarova – ballet dancer and Galina Stanisheva – singer, staged successfully with students a musical work that challenges even professional troupes with its difficulty. Even now this musical is considered to be one of the most difficult musical works in this genre. The participants are at the real age of the characters and that created an even greater impression.
The young artists from VCYO underwent professional development while learning the vocal parts, the dances and the acting. The orchestra, mainly students from Dobri Hristov Artschool, demonstrated exceptional skills as a result of their professional prepration. The performers have staged more than 30 productions, mainly in Varna. In May 2006 the musical was stated at the 40th jubilee of the National Festival of Opera and Ballet Art in Stara Zagora.
At the moment the production team is preparing two productions simultaneously: the musical Winnie the Pooh by the composer Al. Yosifov for the youngest viewers and one of the most successful productions, the musical The Kid based on the movie created by Charles Chaplin and with music composed by the Hungarian composer Tibor Nagi. The premiere was in 2007. Production team – Gancho Ganchev – conductor, Georgi Kaytsanov – director, Konstantin Iliev – choreographer, Todor Ignatov – scenic designer, Miglena Shisheva – choirmaster and pianist and the pedagogues – Petya Petkova – actress, Bistra Bachvarova – ballet master and Galina Stanisheva – vocal pedagogue. The musical was performed with the participation of professional actors from Stoyan Bachvarov Drama Theatre. The leading parts were performed by Svilen Stoyanov, Petya Petkova, Plamen Georgiev, Nadezhda Mihaylova and Georgi Velchovski. The musical A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens will also be staged. In December VCYO will show a total of seven productions as part of the Christmas Festival of the Opera and Philharmonic Society.
10.11.2009 Varna Artistic Director: G. Ganchev/
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