ph. Viktor Viktorov
Just a month ago, in mid October, three performances of the opera “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini (director Hugo de Ana, conductor Grigor Palikarov) astonished the audience at Sofia Opera and Ballet House. The combination of voices in such homogenical substance, extraordinary phrasing and belcanto vocal technique is a rare phenomenon. For these performances the most remarkable was the choice of the singers for the main roles – all of them young artists trained by Raina Kabaivanska in her Master Classes at New Bulgarian University, Chigiana Academy in Siena and “Vecchi-Tonelli”
Institute in Modena.
Marily Santoro, Yonghyun Ryu, Shin Je Bang, Elisa Barbero, Kostadin Mechkov, Strahinja Djokic, Daniela Nineva, Roxana Herrera, Manuel Rodriguez are the young artists who performed magnificently in “Norma”. They come from Italy, South Korea, Bulgaria, Serbia, Chile and Spain.
In the last 17 years New Bulgarian University implemented 17 International Master Classes of Raina Kabaivanska in vocal technique and artistic interpretation. More than 1000 singers applied and 199 out of them were selected. 83 young artists were awarded scholarships, provided by Raina Kabaivanska Fund at NBU in partnership with America for Bulgaria Foundation, Sofia Municipality and Fantastico. In collaboration with Sofia Opera and Ballet House 13 performances took place in Sofia and Modena of the following 4 operas - "La Boheme" (2010-2012), "Werther" (2012), "Turandot" (2016), "Norma" (2017).