Sofia National Philharmonic Orchestra New Year's Concert in Beijing

Date: Dec 27 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Library, Beijing

The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra was established as an institution and a structure after several transformations. The first orchestra was formed by initiative of Sasha Popov - at the time he was a professor of violin at the Music Academy. At the end of 1928, with the cooperation of the Academy's rector Dimitar Hadzhigeorgiev, the Academic Symphony Orchestra was founded. By 1935 the orchestra already had over 100 concerts with soloists such as Dimitar Nenov, Panka Pelishek, Tamara Yankova, Mihail Lefterov, Nedyalka Simeonova, Vasil Chernaev, Petar Hristoskov, Ivan Tsibulka, Konstantin Popov, Lyuben Mazarov, etc. Some of the outstanding guest performers were pianists Paul Wittgenstein and Marcel Ciampi and the violinist Henri Marteau. The Sofia Philharmonic has recorded approximately 25 instrumental concertos by Bach, Telemann, Tessarini, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Paganini, Tchaikovski, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Bartok and Jolivet.