Varna Philharmonic Orchestra

The Varna Philharmonic Orchestra developed from a local symphonic tradition beginning with an amateur orchestra in 1913. A city philharmonic was formed in 1935, followed by the Radio Varna Symphony Orchestra in 1945. On 1 April 1946 the latter became Varna’s first State Symphony Orchestra, with Ruslan Raychev as chief conductor. Its subsequent development involved conductors including Yosko Yosifov, Konstantin Iliev and Emil Glavanakov. It received State Philharmonic status in 1968. In 1999 the philharmonic and Varna Opera were brought together in an Opera and Philharmonic Society. The later institutional structure continued the orchestra’s combined symphonic and theatrical work. Since 1997 the orchestra has shared one state institution with the Varna opera, an arrangement that places the pit and the symphonic season under a single administration — unusual in Bulgaria, and durable. Its year is shaped by the coast: winter subscription concerts indoors, then Varna Summer, the international festival first held in 1926 and the oldest in the country, which brings visiting soloists and conductors to the city and gives the orchestra its most public weeks.