The 43rd edition of the International Choir Competition “Prof. Georgi Dimitrov” – Varna has ended. The large-scale choral event was held from 11 to 14 September and is organized by the Municipality of Varna with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Bulgarian Choral Union.
It was opened with a procession of the participants and a concert at the FCC – Varna with performances by the children’s choir “Dobri Hristov” at the Central Choral Society – ODK – Varna with conductor Galina Stanisheva and the brass band of the music school “Dobri Hristov” – Varna with conductor Lyubomir Alexandrov. It was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of D. Hristov and the program included works by Dobri Hristov and Prof. Georgi Dimitrov.
Nine choral formations from Italy, Romania, Turkey, Poland, Estonia, Spain, Singapore and Indonesia took part in the competition, competing in four groups. The winners in the respective categories were:
“Children’s and Youth Choirs” – Children’s Choir “Lautitia”” – Debrecen, Hungary
“Uniform Choirs” – Vocal Ensemble “Vox Cordis”” – Arezzo, Italy
“Chamber Choirs” – Vocal Ensemble “Vox Cordis”” – Arezzo, Italy
“Mixed Choirs” – Mixed Choir “Gratia” – Semarang, Indonesia and “RAffles Singers” – Singapore.
These formations also competed in the Varna 2025 Grand Prix competition, which is part of the “Grand Prix Europa” chain, including competitions in Arezzo /Italy/, Debrecen /Hungary/, Tolosa /Spain/, Tours /France/, Varna /Bulgaria/ and Maribor /Slovenia/. The winner was the mixed choir “Gracia” – Indonesia, which will participate in the competition for the European Grand Prix in Spain in October. “Gracia” also won the Award for the choir with the brightest stage presence of the competition, which is presented by the Bulgarian Choral Union.
The international jury was composed of: Dario Tabia – Italy, Urša La – Slovenia, Ragnar Rasmussen – Norway, Yana Deliradeva – Bulgaria and Galina Stanisheva – Bulgaria.
The next edition of the international choir forum will be held from September 10 to 13, 2026.
More information about the 43rd International Choir Competition “Prof. G. Dimitrov” can be found on the competition website – https://choircomp.org
