Snejana Iovtcheva
Program Coordinator and Registrar
snejana@bg-school.org
"A quarter century sounds serious.
A quarter century sounds… centuries old!
And if you welcome it with a smile,
You will welcome an eternity!”
- Gergana Nikolova, Bulgarian school "Rodna Rech" Sarasota, Florida
"The role of the Bulgarian schools abroad is exceptional. Through the children, they unite communities and form the heart of the Bulgarian culture. The schools are a place for gatherings and communication and also a place for affirming a Bulgarian presence in the world."
- Prof. Galin Tsonkov, Minister of Education and Science, Sofia, Bulgaria
A spectacular all-school concert gathered over 350 guests and students in the beautiful historic Robbins Memorial Town Hall in Arlington, a suburb of Boston.
The concert was part of the Boston School's 25th anniversary celebrations. Guests at the concert included Mr. Georgi Panayotov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United States Mr. Angel Angelov, Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in New York; Mr. Adam Portnoy, Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Mrs. Raina Mandjukova, Executive Director of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad (EABA); Mr. Georgi Boshnakov, Director of the Board of "Little Bulgarian School" in Chicago; and Mrs. Gergana Neykova, Director of the Board of the Bulgarian School in Nantucket. At the concert, greetings were read from the "Little Bulgarian School" in Chicago and the "Rodna Rech" school in Sarasota, Florida. The Nantucket School greeted us with a cheerful rachenica dance, performed by their youngest students, who traveled all the way to Boston to participate on the stage.
The Bulgarian poet Ivan Radoev once wrote "The children's songs - these are the lights of the watermelon lanterns that we carry in our hearts to illuminate hardships of life". Childhood is full of miracles and magic, and we discover these through music and fairy tales. The magical world of childhood was the leading theme of this year's music concert, and original scenario was composed through the cooperation of all teachers under the professional guidance of our music teacher, Zdravka Nikolova.
The presenters of the concert were the students from our high school groups - Martin Andreev, Martina Andreeva, Samuel Flashenberg, Darin Mihov, Zoe Savov-Won and Petar Iantchev. They skillfully navigated the script, welcomed the performers on stage, and presented the performances.
The first graders took to the stage with their teacher Kristina Georgieva and assistant Deana Nedelchev. The young students introduced us to the colorful world of the favorite fairy-tale characters with the song "Pikazkite" (The Fairytales) with music by Margarita Shoselova and lyrics by Maya Dalgacheva.
Relationship with fairytales is different for every child. Some children from a very young age love to be among books - listening, reading, or simply handling them. Others prefer to read to their little brothers or sisters, favorite toys, or pets. But what happens when pets try to read? The preschool group with teacher Darina Tsonevska and assistants Dara Mashova and Atanaska Vancheva performed the song "Chelo kote knizhki" (A cat reads a book) with music and lyrics by Dora Draganova.
The fairytales shape and enrich the child's worldview from an early age. The youngest students, from the kindergarten, with teacher Darina Tsonevska and assistant Ella Shishkova showed us that success is achieved through understanding and joint work. On stage, they performed a song and skillfully acted out one of the most popular Bulgarian fairy tales - "Dyado ryapa vadi” (Grandfather digs a turnip). Special thanks here go to the handy Ella, who knitted the giant turnip and created the stage decoration.
The students from the kindergarten class with teacher Zornitsa Vodenska and assistant Ivanina Nedelchev told us about the wolf in children's fairy tales through a song with music and lyrics by Margarita Shoselova. Vincent Anastasia, Boris Todorov and George Ullman played the role of the wolf from three different fairy tales.
There is also a wolf in the tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”. The second graders with teacher Snejana Iovtcheva and assistant Martin Draganov presented a short comedy based on Gianni Rodari’ s and corrected his "Telling Stories Wrong" with the song "Red Riding Hood" with music by Kiril Cibulka and lyrics by Bogomil Gudev.
Our walk through the world of fairytales continued with the Bulgarian Yan Bibiyan and the Swedish tall tales Pippi Longstocking. Their stories were told in songs and presented by the 3rd grade students with teacher Svetlana Dimitrov and assistant teacher Violeta Ragina. The students performed "Yan Bibiyan i Djavolcheto Fyut” (Yan Bibiyan and the Little Devil Fyut") to the music of Vili Kazasyan and lyrics by Ivan Stanev and "Pippi Dalgoto Chorapche” (Pippi Longstocking) to the music of Vili Kazasyan and lyrics by Bogomil Gudev.
The students from our second kindergarten class, with teacher Iren Hristov, told the story of Pinocchio, the wooden puppet from the fairytale "The Golden Key" by Alexei Tolstoy. The song has music and lyrics by Mikhail Shopov. They also introduced the celebration of the Bulgarian alphabet with the song "Bukvichki rodni. poznati" (Dear native letters) with music by Donka Dimitrova and lyrics by Kalina Malina.
The students from the alternative class, who study Bulgarian as a second language with teacher Zlatka Shishkova and assistant Rumi Pasheva shared their knowledge of the Bulgarian alphabet with the song "From A to Z" with music and lyrics by Natalia Delionova.
The students from our Cape Cod elementary classes with teachers Diana Gilbert and Sylvia Alharthy made the audience dance to the rhythm of the song “Tanz na Bukvite" (A Dance of the Letters) with music and lyrics by Nina Lipp.
Children grow up and childhood eventually ends, but it only looks like that! When we preserve the flames of childhood in our hearts; we can ride a stick, sprinkle a slice of bread with paprika, and warm ourselves with happy memories. The school choir, with music director Zdravka Nikolova, performed the beloved song to many generations of Bulgarians "Detstvo moe" (My Childhood) to music by Vili Kazasyan and text by Bogomil Gudev.
The Junior high school and high school students with teachers Ivan Bachvarov, Petya Koeva, Silvia Mihaleva, and Stella Wasson reminded us that “Anything is possible" in school! The song is composed by Petya Bukureshtlieva and lyrics by Irena Vasileva.
Indeed, anything is possible! We can even fly into space! This is also the dream of the 4th grade students with teacher Svetlana Dimitrova. They presented the song “Ot Kosmosa” (From Space) with music by Svetoslav Loboshki and lyrics by Tatyana Balova.
Bulgaria is located on our planet, Earth. It is the place where our parents and ancestors were born. The students from our Cape Cod branch with teachers Teodora Torres and Zdravka Nikolova presented the song "Molitva za Balgaria” (Prayer for Bulgaria) with music by Haigashot Agasyan and lyrics by Aneta Mutafova.
As is tradition, the concert ended with a school-wide enthusiastic performance of the anthem of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, with music by Panayot Pipkov and lyrics by Stoyan Mihailovski. Young and old sang "Forward, revived people, follow a bright future ..." and charged the great hall with elation.
Every school year, our school organizes two big concerts - a Christmas concert and the second one dedicated to May 24, the holiday of Bulgarian education and culture. These concerts gather and unite the community, enrich the students, and motivate them. Students get excited, frantically prepare and practice speaking in front of a large audience. The teachers, for their part, introduce the students to the rhythm, sonority, and richness of the Bulgarian language. This strengthens the connection with the Bulgarian culture and allows our children to identify themselves with their rich heritage
We thank our supporters for their unity, friendship, trust, and effort thanks to which we have all been able to preserve and spread the Bulgarian language and culture in our community in Boston and Cape Cod for the past 25 years!