Chamber Orchestras

"SIMHAH"

Chamber Collegium

CONTACT:

Plamen Maslev
Nadejda Bl. 304 E
1229 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel & Fax: +359 (0) 2 375639

EMAIL

The "Simhah" Chamber Collegium was founded in 1991 by the famous composer and conductor Jules Levy. Fourteen Bulgarian leading musicians form the body of the Collegium: 7 violinists, 3 violists, 2 violoncellos, double bass and piano (harpsichord and organ).

There is also a group of soloists working together with the Collegium, both instrumentalists and singers, who enrich the concert repertoire, which can be from:
the Brandenburg Concertos and Concerfi Grossi to chamber symphonies and instrumental concertos,
suites and serenades for string orchestra,
from the musical miniatures and the most suitable for the formation's sound canzonets,
arias from operas, operettas, musical comedies, etc. ,
to the arranged pieces of the musical folklore of peoples from all over the world .

The name "Simhah" means in Hebrew "rejoicing, mirth", thus becoming an expression of the Collegium's objecfive to bring joy to its listeners.

The "Simhah" has under its belt many concerts, including live concerts for the First Channel of Bulgarian TV, as well as 3 CD's. Two of them are with famous musical miniatures (such as Bach - Ave Maria, Sarasate - Gipsy Airs, Albeniz - Sevilla, Liszt - Love dreams, Gershwin - The Man I Love, Dinicu - Hora Staccato and the third "Acoustic Christmas Reflections" with popular Christmas songs with special arrangement for the Collegium with solo guitar .

REVIEWS

"Fourteen superb professionalists forming the body of the ensemble have placed their talent and art in the service of the widest musical audiences with a devotion which might seem a bit unusual to the outsider . But their work has always been awarded by enthusiastic applause from full houses, by sparkles of joy in the eyes of their grateful listeners, by numerous encores which they are often asked to perform . "

.............."Gega New " Recording Company

"such a fluid of emotional enlightenment comes from the performance that you let yourself be deeply imbued with it . "

................"Fatherland journal "

"I appreciated very much all the efforts the Collegium made to give my piece such an appropriate performance. Really, I am so honoured and proud to be the composer of the first Israeli work performed in Sofia. "

Dov Carmel (Israeli composer)

Jules Levy - Founder and Conductor
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