October 6, 2009 - 18:33 AMT
Armenian and Bulgarian Composers' Unions; similar problems, different scope of work
"Composers in Bulgaria create contemporary music which, however, is not performed as frequently as one would like it to be. To promote development of and interest in modern music it is necessary, among other things, to cooperate with composers and performers," Chair of Bulgarian Composers' Union Veislav Zaimov said.

In his words, many people in Bulgaria are now attempting to create something like music, but there are very few real composers. "Absence of state policy in cultural sphere creates a lot of problems. That's why, creative unions have to solve problems on their own. But measures on local level are not enough to fill the existing gap," Zaimov stressed.

At that he noted that Bulgarian public television and radio had closed cultural and educational broadcasts. That, according to him, mostly results from absence of state policy rather than commercial mentality.

In that connection, Head of Armenian Musical Ensemble Levon Chaushyan stressed, "Despite my Bulgarian colleague's dissatisfaction, let me note that his union works quite effectively. On June 15-21 last year, it organized 7 serious concerts in its halls. And that was the only week of concerts. Armenian Composers' Union has not held this kind of large-scale events for quite a long time."