British Council is supporting the new Let's Play Orchestra training project in the framework of the International March Music Days Festival in Ruse during the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

The new Let’s Play Orchestra educational project is a follow-up of the similar project which was implemented in 2002 with the support of the British Council in Bulgaria. It then involved Bulgarian students who rehearsed for a week and prepared a concert under the tuition of the British outstanding cellist Robert Cohen and the prominent Bulgarian violinist Mincho Minchev. As a result two very successful concerts were presented in Ruse and Sofia (Тhe result were two very successful concerts in Ruse and Sofia and the establishment of one of the most popular Bulgarian youth orchestras – the FM Classic Radio Orchestra.)

During the next edition of Ruse March Music Days Festival in March 2008 this successful project will be developed further with the organization of an international orchestral workshop (15 - 21 March), this time involving young musicians from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey.  In the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, this initiative, unprecedented in Bulgaria up to now, will undoubtedly set a good example of creative and professional communication for young people from the region.

Four internationally acclaimed musicians and pedagogues from Vienna Academy of Drama and Music, Vienna Philharmonics, Sofia State Academy of Music and the Bucharest University of Music will be invited as tutors. In the final stage of its preparation the orchestra will be led by the renowned British conductor Sir Neville Marriner who will also conduct the final concert of the international orchestra which will be presented to the festival audience on 21 March 2008 and will be broadcast on Bulgarian National television and Bulgarian National radio which will contribute to the publicity of the project and of the participants and partners. The project is an investment for the benefit of the talented young  musicians from the Balkan region and an important stimulus for the development of the region as an attractive arts and culture spot.

Let’s Play Orchestra Workshop
March Music Days International Festival Ruse
date: 15-21 March
Sir Neville Marriner will work with young musicians from region (Romania, Serbia, Macedonia. Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria)

Let’s Play Orchestra Concert
March Music Days International Festival Ruse
date: 21 March
time: 1900
place: Dohodno zdanie theatre hall Ruse
International Youth Orchestra
Conductor Sir Neville Marriner, UK
Soloist Maria Prinz, piano
G. Rossini – Overture L’Italiana in Algeri
L. van Beethoven – Piano Concerto No1, op. 15
F. Mendelson – Symphony No 4, Italienische, op.90