After a knock-out performance last summer, pianist Viktor Valkov and cellist Lachezar Kostov are returning to Orcas in December.
“They lit our festival on fire last August. Little would I have known that our community would have embraced these musicians,” said Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann. “Everyone loved their eagerness and their openness. We call them ‘BBB’ – the bad boys of Bulgaria.”
Valkov and Kostov will perform for OICMF’s annual Leaves of Gold fundraising concert at Rosario Resort on Thursday, Dec. 12 and Friday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. Rosario’s historic Music Room, adorned for the holidays, is the setting for the performances.
Following the music, guests will enjoy an hors d’oeuvres buffet and wine reception in the Orcas Room of the Rosario Mansion.
Valkov, winner of the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, has been highly acclaimed by critics as “lion of the keyboard” and “sensational.” He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker.
Kostov, National Winner at the 2006 Music Teachers National Association Young Artists Competition, is hailed for the “awesome purity of his playing,” and as a “prodigiously skilled protagonist.” He is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Rice University where he studies with Norman Fischer and was recently named a cellist with the San Antonio Symphony.
The Kostov-Valkov Duo gave their Carnegie Hall debut in 2009 and won first prize at the Liszt-Garisson International Competition in 2011.
“It’s wonderful to have young and exciting talent in our midst,” Friedmann said. “I’m personally thrilled that they’re able to return to Orcas so soon.”
OICMF is adding “a touch of red” to this holiday event – for the festive timing and in honor of Lachezar’s love of red shoes. For those who attended the summer festival, they know Lachezar slipped into his red velvet shoes during the receptions. Concert organizers encourage everyone to wear a touch of red and be part of the holiday spirit.
Tickets for the concert are $150. For reservations, call 376-6636 or email joyce@oicmf.org. All proceeds benefit the festival’s programming and music education. For those unable to attend, they can be a “guest in spirit” listed in the program, which is a 100 percent tax deductible donation. For more information, visit www.oicmf.org.
“Viktor and I had our debut at OICMF in August, performing alongside some of today’s greatest musicians,” Kostov said. “We knew it would be a challenge, we knew it would be exciting, but there was absolutely no way for us to know what an extraordinarily wholesome experience it would be.”
He says they are counting the days until their next visit. During their December concerts, they will be performing alongside Friedmann.
“We feel that we are coming back home – where food tastes best, where everyone loves you for who you are, and where music lives,” Kostov said.
