Off The Beaten Path

Composers' residency

"The Path is Yours" is a three-part initiative of the Off the Beaten Path Foundation in Bulgaria, which will address the following challenges of the music sector:

1. Commissions and premieres of new works


The Off the Beaten Path Foundation continues its The Path is Yours program. Three Bulgarian composers will be our special guests during the Festival, working closely with the festival musicians. Together we will present the world premieres of three new works for chamber ensembles inspired by the Rhodope Mountains’ history, traditions, and magnificent nature. The composers are Lora Al Ahmad, Svetlin Hristov, and Peter Kerkelov.

2. Access to music education for young people from diverse backgrounds in the municipalities of Garmen and Gotse Delchev, Southwestern Bulgaria


The Off the Beaten Path Foundation will expand its music education program by offering a week-long summer music camp for children of all ages in mid-July 2024. The event will be free of charge and open to children from Southwestern Bulgaria, focusing on bringing kids from diverse backgrounds together through singing a variety of repertoire, as well as interactive musical activities and community-building performances. At the end of the camp, participants will present two community concerts.

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3. Audience expansion


Classical music is rarely heard live in Southwestern Bulgaria. The Foundation will, therefore, organize two special community outreach concerts (one for children and one for adults) in Gotse Delchev as part of the Off the Beaten Path Festival’s 2024 edition (това според мен е излишно, натежава) to reach new audiences from the town and its surrounding communities. Audiences will hear unique chamber music programs showcasing the connections between Western European form and Eastern European folklore and the importance of folk tradition in developing compositional language in Europe. The young people’s concert will focus on age-appropriate material and interactive audience engagement. Performers will include renowned musicians from around the world.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect of the European Union and therefore the European Union cannot be held responcible for them.

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