Men’s choir “Stefka Blagoeva”

The men’s choir Stefka Blagoeva was founded on September 22, 2008, by former disciples of the Plovdiv Boys’ and Young Men’s choir, thus completing the cycle of the Stefka Blagoeva choral school. In the course of its short experience, the choir took an active part in the cultural life of Plovdiv. It first appeared at the Christmas concert on December 17, 2008, followed by a series of events dedicated to Easter, Europes Day, the 95th anniversary of Boris Hristov’s birth and other events. In October 2009 the choir participated to the Thracian Choir Festival held in Yambol, Bulgaria, and in November 2009 it was the guest of honour at the twenty-fifth International Choir Festival in Thessaloniki. The last appearance for the 2009-2010 season was at the Panorama of Chamber Formations in Plovdiv. The season was closed by recordings at Radio Plovdiv.

Teodosiya Pankova graduated from the Music Academy of Sofia in the choir conducting class of Professor Vasil Arnaudov. In 1979 she joined the Plovdiv Boys’ Choir. In 1981, together with Stefka Blagoeva, she founded the Plovdiv Young Men’s Choir and conducted it until 1996. This formation has had numerous appearances in Bulgaria and in Europe. It was awarded the second place prize at the First International Choir Festival in Tortona, Italy. Since 1996, Mrs. Pankova has worked as a lecturer at the Academy of Music and the music high-school in Plovdiv, and at the same time conducts the men’s choir Boris Hristov. Since 2008 she has been the conductor of the newly formed Men’s Choir Stefka Blagoeva.

Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria with a population of 380,683. The history of Plovdiv spans some 6.000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC. The city is an important economic, transport, cultural and educational centre. Known in the west for most of its history by the name Philippopolis, it was originally a Thracian settlement before becoming a major Roman city. In the Middle Ages, it retained its strategic regional importance, changing hands between the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. It came under Ottoman rule in the fourteenth century. In 1878, Plovdiv was made the capital of the autonomous Ottoman region of Eastern Rumelia; in 1885, it became part of Bulgaria with the unification of that region and the Principality of Bulgaria. Plovdiv is situated on the two banks of the Maritsa River. The city has historically developed on seven syenite hills. Because of these hills, Plovdiv is often referred to in Bulgaria as “The City of the Seven Hills”. Plovdiv is the host to economic and cultural events such as the International Fair Plovdiv, the international theatrical festival “A scene on a crossroad” and the TV festival “The golden chest”.