February 2017 – February 2020
Cultural Heritage and Nature Tourism

Music Days at Balabanov House in Plovdiv (2017 – 2019)
MusicArtissimo Foundation

BGN 210,000

Can a music festival be held in ... а house? Maybe, but not every house is suitable and it must meet certain requirements – it has to be more than 100 years old, rich in history, and a symbol of the city in which it is located. And with each requirement the list of suitable houses gets increasingly shorter. Until only one remains - the Balabanov House, one of the symbols of old Plovdiv.

Started in 2010 as a small event held at the Balabanov House, a home preserved as a museum building in the Old Town of Plovdiv from the time of the Bulgarian Renaissance, the Days of Music at the Balabanov House Festival quickly gained popularity due to the quality of its program and performers. In 2016, more than 13,000 people attended the concerts, compared to 3,000 in 2014.

2017 is the sixth consecutive year in which America for Bulgaria Foundation supports the festival, and this year seems one of the most exciting. The spring festival will open on May 10 with a concert by the world's leading flautist Emanuel Pahud. Other performers will include Krasimira Stoyanova with her class of young opera singers and Vyara Shuperlieva, pianist. Among the most-anticipated events in Plovdiv will be a broadcast of La Traviata, featuring Sonya Yoncheva of the Metropolitan Opera. The closing concert will be on June 30 with Veselin Stambolov, a Bulgarian pianist who performs all over the world. The fall edition will open on September 15 with a concert by Svetlin Rusev, the great Bulgarian violinist.