Varna is a city with a special place not only in Bulgarian history, but also in the culture of the country.
The first sprouts of the railroad sprouted in the Ottoman Empire with the construction of the Ruschuk (Ruse)-Varna railway in 1866 by the Rustshuk-Varna Railwais Company (GB). This was also the first bridge to the culture of Europe over which news began to arrive to the now free Bulgaria.
The unfortunate participation of our country in the three successive wars of the early 20th century and the loss of Dobrudzha after the Treaty of Nuremberg forced the Varna Chamber of Commerce and Industry to prepare and publish the study "The Future of Varna".
According to the statistics of 1910, 13419 people live in the city, which enjoys a rapidly developing cultural infrastructure. The construction of the railway line to the capital Sofia (1999) and the opening of the port in 1906 further contributed to this development.
And it was no coincidence that in the winter of 1911, violinist Wallace Hartley's orchestra disembarked from an unknown ship and stayed at the ''Морско Казино'' (Maritime Casino'). It wasn't long before he received a more enticing offer from the just-opened City Casino of Sofia (now the City Art Gallery) and set off for the capital. Where he got a job on the ocean liner wonder Titanic.
The story of this giant is well known, described in literature and cinema. But few people know that Wallace Hartley brought to Varna the play by Irving Burlin, Alexander's Ragtime Band, just published in New York.
Thus it was from Varna that the journey of American popular music (jazz was still in its infancy) began in Bulgaria to serve as the repertoire backbone of the two best Bulgarian orchestras at that time - in Ruse and Varna.
The First National Music Celebrations "Varna Summer" Five decades later Hemingway would utter his famous observation that "no capital should be more than a hundred miles from the sea". Everything else, according to him, is countryside. He seems to be right!
We agree with what the American writer said, recalling the fact that in 1926 it was Varna that hosted the first Varna Summer Folk Music Celebrations in the country, the second such festival in Europe after Salzburg in 1920. Although off-programme, the Vladiger brothers - the composer and pianist Pancho and the violinist Lyuben - played Ragtime (1925), written by the composer.
This piece should be taken as the first Bulgarian attempt in the field of jazz and dance music. And after a very long break we should connect it with the International Jazz Festival created and directed by the composer and musician Anatoly Vapirov within the framework of the Varna Summer in 1992.
"We waited, we waited for a long time and finally we saw it", with these words Anatoly Vapirov set the jazz in motion in the packed Festival Centre in 1992. His dream of creating a jazz festival in his image, however far from the northern lights of St. Petersburg, came true. Sunny Varna proved more hospitable. And we also lived to see an international jazz festival by the sea in August.
That is why it was so important to include jazz in the Varna Summer itinerary. And even more so that the concept of a different festival - of course, in Bulgarian conditions - was accepted, which would focus on a liberated, contemporary, unique jazz festival, which would bring together musicians from different countries and different generations, united by similar musical concepts.
Thus the third Absolutely Different Jazz Festival in Bulgaria came into being. A festival that brings together, every year, international musicians playing mostly free, made-in-the-moment music, a festival where the free spirit of East and West, North and South meet on the shores of the Black Sea. It was worth securing support for such an idea.
До 2000 г. фестивалът се провежда във варненския Фестивален и конгресен център, а след това – в двора на Археологическия музей.
To date, the festival has become "one of a kind" and is one of several "Avant-Garde" jazz festivals in the world whose projects form the core of the concerts performed by various musicians rooted all over the world.
In all its thirty-two years, the jazz festival has never made a major compromise or deviated from its originally stated international format. In the first decade it also experienced two serious, even earth-shattering crises. It is also experiencing the current Caucasian pandemic. But it has shown the whole Bulgarian musicianship how to work in the ongoing transition.
The first jazz society in the country was established in the city of Varna, the example of which was later followed by several other cities with festival events.
Varna Jazz was the first in the country to destroy the centralized socialist model of cultural life and to this day, with a minimal team, maintains and develops artistic growth, unattainable for other similar forums.
For more than three decades about 1000 (one thousand!) first-class artists and bands have passed through this stage, offering the faithful Varna audience the colourful richness of contemporary improvisational music.
The project is multicultural, stands above religious, interethnic and political differences and aims to unite cultures under the aegis of the art of jazz.
The Varna Summer International Jazz Festival is held annually with the participation of world-renowned musicians from abroad and Bulgaria. In addition to mixed international projects, the festival's program also includes a stage of young jazz musicians.
Overall, the festival has become an integral part of Bulgarian culture. Holding the Varna Summer International Jazz Festival every year in Varna helps to attract mass listeners to the best examples of native and foreign music, enriches the socio-cultural environment of Bulgaria.
The main organizers of the festival to this day are Mr. Anatoly Vapirov and the Varna Jazz Society Association in partnership with the Municipality of Varna and the Varna Culture Fund.
The International Jazz Festival "Varna Summer" is always realized in cooperation with the Municipality of Varna and that is why the logo of the municipality is in the first place in all printed and promotional materials.
The program includes 3 - 4 concerts , which involve 8 to 10 groups or individual performers, both from Bulgaria and from different parts of the world.
The Varna Summer Jazz Festival is realized with the financial support of the Varna Municipality Culture Fund.
Are you a jazz music lover and want to build a successful partnership? We are waiting for you!
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