Ivan Spassov Chamber Choir Georgi Nikolov

"Ivan Spassov" Chamber Choir

BIOGRAPHY of THE “Ivan Spassov” Chamber Choir
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Conductor – Gergana Lyutzkanova – Petrova
Assistant conductor – Rositsa Dimova

The “Ivan Spassov” Chamber Choir was founded in December 1979 as the Plovdiv Youth Chamber Choir by Associate Professor Nikola Lipov. The choir has a rich history. It has repeatedly participated in prestigious national festivals like such as “A Panorama of Bulgarian choral art” – Sofia, “Golden Diana” – Yambol, “Winter musical evenings” – Pazardjik, “New Bulgarian Music” – Sofia, the festival of church music “Praise the name of God” – Sofia, the festival of orthodox music “Virgin Mary – Worthy” – Pomorie, the festival of spiritual music “Saint Peter” – Gabrovo.

The choir has performed concert tours throughout almost all of Europe – Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Macedonia, Poland and Russia. From its participation in numerous international festivals, the choir has won:

Two second prizes at the International Choral Competition, Shpital (Austria) in 1985;
First prize at the International Choral Competition “Prof. George Dimitrov”, Varna (Bulgaria) in 1987;
First and fourth prizes at the International Choral Competition, Goritzia (Italy) in 1987;
Second prize at the International Choral Competition “Dr. Shuplevsky”, Skopje (Macedonia) in 2002;
First and third prize, award for soloist and special award from “Vspulchesna” magazine at the International Festival for Orthodox Sacred Music, Haynuvka (Poland) in 2005;
First prize and Special award for Interpretation of folk themes at the International Choir Festival “Moscow-gorod mira”, Moscow (Russia) in 2009;
Second prize and Special award for performing a song by Ivan Spassov at the International May Choral Competition “Prof. George Dimitrov”, Varna (Bulgaria) in 2010 and a Special Award for the performance of a song by Ivan Spassov.
First prize at the International Choral Competition “Hrustalnaya chasovnya” Moscow (Russia) in 2011.
First prize , an award for performance of a song from Ivan Spassov and a special award from Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers for the performance of a new Bulgarian song at the International Choral Festival “Chernomorski Zvutsi”, Balchik (Bulgaria) in 2014.
Gold medal and Second prize at Liviu Borlan International Choral Competition, Baia Mare,Maramures, Romania in 2015.

In 1999 the choir was named after the famous Bulgarian composer and conductor prof. Ivan Spassov.

The repertoire of the choir is very diverse and includes compositions from the IX to ХХІ centuries in a variety of styles and genres. The choir has given the first performances in Bulgaria of:

Johann Sebastian Bach – “Easter Oratorio”
Joseph Haydn – Missa “St. Nicolay”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – ”Offertorium”
F. Liszt – “Missa Choeuris”
V. Nicolov – Cantate ” Zarevo i nadejda “
“Queen” – “Bohemian Rhapsody” arrangement Kris Wong
Various songs from Bulgarian composers

The choir performed the world premiere of the Missa “In Terra pax” by A. Dyumon in Evreux (France).

Gergana Lyutzkanova – Petrova graduated from the Academy of Music and Dance – Plovdiv in 1998. She studied conducting in the class of Associate Professor Krikor Chetinyan and Chief Assistant Dimitar Grigorov. Later she specialized in Choral Conducting with Associate Professor Nikola Lipov. Since 1998 she has managed the choir at “Saint Peter’s” church in Plovdiv, with which she not only regularly takes part in church services, but also appears in concert. From 1998 to 2000 she was the choir-master and assistant conductor of the “Angel Boukoreshtliev” Singer Society of Plovdiv. Since 2000 Gergana Lyutzkanova – Petrova has been the conductor of the “Ivan Spassov”Chamber Choir. In 2014 she received an award for conductor mastership from UBMD at the International Choral Festival ” Chernomorski Zvutsi” – Balchik (Bulgaria).

"Ivan Spassov" Chamber Choir

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