The
following pages are dedicated to my
varied interests within music and the
arts and express gratitude to the people
and organisations that have supported my
professional development
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FESTIVALS
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Dobrinka has dedicated much time to
promoting contemporary music, which
started in her student days at the
Guildhall School. As well as conducting
a number of premieres and chamber operas
there, in 1999 she became President of
the Contemporary Music Society. In that
role, spanning 5 years, she acted as
artistic director of the concerts and
Festivals which aim to promote the up
and coming composers of this generation
The 2002 and 2003 festivals PLAY and
Forward were selected to be part of the
City of London Festival.
Following on from her post at the
Guildhall, Dobrinka was appointed series
coordinator of the British Music
Information Centre’s Cutting Edge
series (2003-2009), which aimed to
present post 1960’s contemporary music
with a focus on British composers. In
that period, the series introduced over
300 premieres by Bmic Voices, spnm
shortlisted composers and established
British names like Michael Finnissy,
Howard Skempton, Harrison Birtwistle,
Graham Fitkin, Judith Weir, Jonathan
Harvey and many more. |
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WORLD'S SUN SONGS PROJECT |
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The
composers and conductor Maris Sirmais in
Riga
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In 2008, Dobrinka was one of 17
composers invited to write a Sun Anthem
for the large project of World’s Sun
Songs. Choosing a text from their native
lands, each of the composers were asked
to write a piece for the Riga youth
choir Kamer under the direction of the
conductor Maris Sirmais. The project was
presented at an elaborate launch in Riga
in July 2008, and then featured at the
World Choral Symposium in Copenhagen the
following month. |
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The unique nature of this initiative
prompted international acclaim and
became the subject of a film documentary
by Mistrus Media-
Sounds under the Sun.
Full information about the choir and
project can be found
here
Photos from the premiere in Riga are
here
The specially designated site (in
Latvian) for the documentary Sounds that
the Sun Makes is
here
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With
Giya Kancheli after the premiere |
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PREMIERES
& PRIZES (selected) |
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Concerto
for Cello & Strings with
Kristina Blaumane and Amsterdam
Sinfonietta, 2008 |
With Maxim Rysanov after Suite in Old
Style performance
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Centuries
of Meditations with David Hill,
Orchestra of the Swan & Festival
Youth Choir at Three Choirs
Festival, 2012 |
Rehearsing Such different paths
with Janine Jansen and Academy St
Martin in the Fields in Vienna Musikverein,
2010
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Sun
Triptych for violin, cello and
strings, was written for Gidon Kremer,
Kristina Blaumane and Kremerata Baltica
to celebrate the orchestra's 10th
anniversary. The first movement-
Dawn, was premiered in Kronberg, Germany
in 2007. Since then, the work has traveled
around Europe from Salzburg's Mozarteum
to London's St James's Piccadilly. |
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Watch a
video of the first two movements of Sun
Triptych- Dawn and Day here |
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After the premiere with Gidon Kremer and
Kristina Blaumane
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Composer-in-residence
at Leicester Music Festival with
artistic director Nick Daniel &
friends |
With Janine
Jansen, Maxim Rysanov and Egidijus Miksys
in Vilnius
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Lord
Fellowes awarding the Barclays Private
Banking Prize for the anthem for the
Queens' Golden Jubilee, St. Paul's
Cathedral, 2002 |
Judy Cope
awarding the Sorel Prize for Choral
Composition, with Voices of Ascension,
dir. Dennis Keene, New York 2011
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With
violinist Tom Gould |
With
festival director Ivo Stankov, Sofia
Soloists & Plamen Djouroff at London
Festival of Bulgarian Culture 2010
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With Milos
Karadaglic after premiere
of Compass for
solo guitar at Wigmore Hall, 2010 |
Concerto for
Piano & Orchestra with Evelyn Chang
and City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong,
2010
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PRESENTATIONS |
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Since 1999,
Dobrinka has given a number of
presentations on The Relationship
between Music and Science; the History
of the Modes and The Music of the
Spheres, with samples from NASA’s
Voyager missions. The presentations have
been given both at the Guildhall School
and the Royal College of Art. She is now
regularly invited to give presentations
about her work. |
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PLOVDIV |
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Dobrinka’s home town
- Plovdiv, Bulgaira has a history of over 6,000 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe. From Thacians, through Ancient Greeks to Romans, the city is layered with archaeological treasures seamlessly blending in with modern 21st century life. Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria and is nestled at the foothills of the Rhodopi mountains- birthplace of Orpheus. The oldest American educational institution outside the United States was founded in Plovdiv in 1860.
Together with Matera, Italy, Plovdiv was
selected as European Capital of Culture
for 2019. To discover more
read this recent Huffington
Post travelog or visit Wikipedia. |
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THE
RADIANTS |
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The Radiants were formed
in 2000, as a group supporting and
promoting new music. Conducted by
Dobrinka, they performed regularly at
the Guildhall Summer Festivals of New
Music, and premièred a number of works
including the chamber opera ‘Midsummer
Magic’. In June 2002, they made their
debut at the Bath International Festival
of Music in a collaboration with Prof.
Dan Fern from the Royal College of
Art. |
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WORKSHOPS / MASTERCLASSES (selected) |
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Dobrinka has attended workshops with the
following composers:
Jan 2002- John Adams as part
of the Barbican Festival ’John’s
earbox’
Nov 2001- Prof. Alexander
Goehr
Feb 2001- Olav-Anton
Thommessen/Lasse Thoresen as part of
exchange to the Oslo Academy
Aug 2001- Marek Kopelent/
Petr Kotik at the Prague Conservatoire’s
Summer Composition Course in Cesky
Krumlov
Mar 2000- Louis
Andriessen
July 1997- Alessandro
Solbiati at the Corropoli International
Composition Summer Course, Italy
July 1996- Philip Manoury/
Iannis Xenakis at the 20th Centre
Acanthes, Avignon |