4x2 Festival
The ‘4x2: The World in Four Hands’ festival
At the end of August, I found out about a grant from Bulgaria’s National Culture Fund, aiming to support freelance artists who have suffered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. I quickly gathered a team (including my little brother) and drafted what would become the most ambitious project I’ve ever taken on:
4x2 would become the first ever 4-hand-piano-only festival worldwide. Each program will be performed by 2 pianists and will include as many works by contemporary composers as possible; no piece written before the 20th century would be featured in our concerts. Every performance will present 4 works, at least one of which will be Bulgarian; it’s a little known fact that there is no piece by a Bulgarian composer before the 1870’s. The reason we’re about 800 years behind on writing music (we’ve always had our folk songs - but they were only sung and never recorded) - is simply explained by the 5 centuries of slavery under the Ottoman empire. Our people weren’t allowed many things, varying from the right to an education to wearing colorful clothes, speaking in Bulgarian outside their home, and a lot more. I’ve often been told that our folk music sounds rather sad - listening to it, I can definitely see that; it is very emotionally charged, and to a non-Bulgarian listener it’s definitely an intense and unusual experience. That’s why I’m so excited that our first concert will include one of our culture’s landmark pieces, written originally for orchestra and transcribed for one piano, 4 hands.
With this new campaign, you will be funding each of the initial 4 concerts - we are hoping to expand beyond that, of course! Our team is made of 5 people, and we each cover venue, recording, advertising and website costs, live event photography, all kinds of equipment rentals, as well as teams to set up each of our video walls for the outdoor screenings, and a lot more. For each of the performances, we’d like to also offer a stipend for the living composers we’ll be performing. The more we raise, the more composers we’ll be able to commission and support!
As of now, 4 of our team members have received the equivalent of about $2000 from NFC after taxes, which covers approximately half of the costs mentioned above. Those $2000 are the total we’ve received for the first 4 concerts, leaving the next 3 without a budget.
At the moment, we’re planning on raising $800 for each member of the team (there’s 5 of us total), as well as composer fees ($500 for the performance of an already published work; $800 for the 4-hand arrangement of an already published work; $1200 for the commission of a new work) and $800 for equipment rental.
If you have any questions about the festival, suggestions on how to promote it, or if you’d like to volunteer as one of our scouts/coordinators, please email [email redacted]
If you’d like to donate a larger amount, and to hear more about our team, please email [email redacted]
Sending lots of love and I can’t wait to hear from you all!
Yours,
M.
*It’s a little known fact that there is no piece published by a Bulgarian composer before the 1870’s. The reason we’re about 800 years behind on writing music (we’ve always had our folk songs - but they were only sung and never recorded) - is simply explained by the 5 centuries of slavery under the Ottoman empire. Our people weren’t allowed many things, varying from the right to an education to wearing colorful clothes, speaking in Bulgarian outside their home, and a lot more. I’ve often been told that our folk music sounds rather intense - listening to it, I can definitely see that; it is very emotionally charged, and to a non-Bulgarian listener it’s definitely an unusual experience. That’s why we’re so excited that our first concert will include one of our culture’s landmark pieces, written originally for orchestra and transcribed for one piano, 4 hands.
4x2: The world in four hands is supported by National Culture Fund Bulgaria, and organized by:
Marina Simeonova - founder, performer
Simeon Simeonov - performer
Martin Lazarov and Teodor Yordanov - videography
Panayot Panayotov - graphic design
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Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and for sharing it with your friends and others you think might help.
I am raising funds to pay my 2019 tuition to Boston University, as well as cover tuition for this current semester and the amount necessary to make my 2021 graduation possible.
***If you are interested in donating to BU directly, please contact me for more information - thanks! ***
ABOUT ME:
My name is Marina, I am a 25-year-old classical pianist from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. I have two sisters and a brother, I speak roughly 5 languages, I have a dog, I love sight-reading music with my friends, but mainly, I spend 7 hours a day, alone in a room, staring at a keyboard, trying to become as good as I can be.
I was lucky to receive the support of my parents in what many find to be an odd career choice. I started playing almost 20 years ago, attended my hometown's professional music & dance school, then transferred to Sofia's National Music School at age 16, graduating top of the class after defending a thesis to obtain my Music teacher's certificate in 2014.
Coming from a country where university tuition is close to free, I knew it would be difficult to pursue my career in the US. Although Bulgaria isn't a place of conflict or poverty, salaries and expenses are impossible to compare with those of an American living in the States. What I would pay for one semester at BU - roughly $7,000, is what my father makes in a year; he is my family's sole income provider at the moment.
I moved to Boston from my full-scholarship undergrad at the famous Royal Conservatory of Music - the Glenn Gould School, in Toronto, Canada. There, I was one of about of 5 pianists accepted into the program every year. I decided to continue my education in Boston University's College of Fine Arts as a Masters of Music student, in the studio of distinguished Professor Pavel Nersessian.
Music has taken me all over the world - from Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Italy, Germany, Portugal and France, to Canada & the US. I have performed, won awards, judged competitions and taught on three continents, in the last ten years alone. While half of it has been hard work and perseverance, the other half has only been possible because of the financial support of individuals like yourself.
[[To see the full list of my accomplishments, please scroll to the bottom]]
MY BU STORY:
The contrast between living in Boston and my previous home in Canada has been overwhelming. A city of 35 universities and colleges, it is significantly more expensive than Toronto, and offers very little performance opportunities of which most are unpaid. I also have to admit that I was a little spoiled, graduating with full scholarship and a highly paid performance job.
As international students aren't allowed to work off-campus in their first year of school, and my scholarship wasn't enough to cover my living expenses, I applied to every possible job that BU could offer. I ended up with three separate assistantships in collaborative piano.
I would spend 12-16 hours a day at school, only getting to work on my solo repertoire late at night when I was already exhausted. I didn't realize that I had been working for four months without a single day off, until I got injured. My left wrist started hurting in mid-December of 2018, and quickly got worse as I couldn't afford to see a physical therapist at the time.
I had saved up enough by the end of January, and was able to see a specialist regularly. I began a 3-month treatment for a repetitive strain injury. I was unable to use my left hand in practice, as a result of which I had to drop out of two competitions, and cancel a number of rehearsals and concerts. Losing about 80% of my income, and was forced to stop making my monthly tuition payments.
As I was slowly recovering, I had an accident in which I dislocated my right wrist, which lead to yet another two months of cancellations.
What followed, was a month of cramming, practicing for 10-11 hours a day, and performing every other day. I couldn't afford not to make up for all of the time and money I'd lost, so I never recovered properly.
I was finally able to take a month and a half off this past summer, while also seeing a PT; I feel much better now, and have just come back from playing my first solo recital for the season, in Toronto.
WHY I NEED YOUR HELP:
I currently owe Boston University just under $14,000, which includes last Spring semester's unpaid tuition, and this year's insurance. I haven't been able to go home in two years, or save up to make any payments to BU. In order to keep my student visa and stay in the country, I signed up for a half-credit class last semester; I am not allowed to do so this spring, as I now owe the school for two consecutive semesters. I was transferred to BU's collections agency last week, which added an automatic 23% fee to the $11,000 total.
If I raise enough money to pay my tuition, I can register for a single class that would make me eligible for every performance competition on-campus, and also for a form called CPT - a work permit for 2nd-year international students. I'll be able to maintain my student status, and travel to Bulgaria this summer to extend my F-1 visa in order to graduate in 2021.
Once I have raised the $14,000 needed to settle my 2019 bill, I will need:
- $2,635 for the class mentioned above (due a month ago),
- $2,600 in medical insurance (fall of 2020), and,
- $8,000 in tuition (fall-spring, 2020), as my scholarship has been increased.
The total for all of this would be $27,235.
Whatever I am able to make by teaching, performing, and working for BU, would cover (aside from my donations, see below):
- bi-weekly physical therapy and chiropractic appointments,
- application fees for competitions and projects,
- travel expenses,
- studio and hall rental, video editing, and
- the creation of my performer's website.
It would allow me to focus completely on performance, teaching and touring, and ultimately on accomplishing my...
ARTISTIC MISSION:
My dream is to donate a percentage of my total income every year to mental health organizations - especially those who focus their help on youth and college students.
I strongly believe that us, artists, have an obligation to spread awareness and support causes that we feel passionate about. While none of us can directly save a life, end poverty, or aid in the advancement of technology, we can be advocates for so many issues in the world. We can help create social change, we can use our platform to give a voice to organizations that need it, we can influence people to do good and be good to one another.
According to CNN, the US is currently at its highest suicide rate since World War II; depression is the cause of over two-thirds of all cases of it. In 2019, there were more mass shootings than days - 417, of which 45 were school shootings, averaging nearly one per week. In 2017, there were an estimated 46.6 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with a mental illness. This number represented 18.9% of all U.S. adults. The list goes on and on, proving that mental illnesses need to be understood, accepted, spoken about, and treated.
Times are changing and our society is slowly getting introduced to the fact that mental and physical health should be treated with equal urgency and attention. Still, there are too many youth who wouldn't reach out to anyone if they are experiencing depression, anxiety, or another mental illness. The reasons why, vary - from a lack of resources and information, to stigmas surrounding identity and sexuality, to religions that deny the existence of mental disorders altogether, to being taught by parents that such illnesses are embarrassing to talk about... Whatever it may be, young adults need more support now than ever.
Therapy has changed my life in incredible ways, and it is my hope that one day, every school and university student would have access to affordable mental health care. Certain careers, like those in the performance arts, demand that every individual be ''at 100%'' at all times, while being exposed to constant criticism, told that they're not good enough, and spending the majority of their life dependent on subjective opinions. Many quit, because they haven't been offered any help to deal with the pressure they're under.
Having witnessed and experienced much of this, I have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to helping others, just as I've been helped. If I am able to raise the total $25,000, I will donate 30% of my income (after taxes & living expences) in March, April, and May, to one mental health organization in Massachusetts (stay tuned for the announcement!).
Thank you for helping me achieve my dream.
Yours,
Marina
----------------------------------------------------- ARTISTIC BIOGRAPHY ----------------------------------------------------------
Based in Boston, award-winning Bulgarian pianist Marina Simeonova has become known for planning exciting concert programs emphasizing chamber music, 20th-century and contemporary music. Currently a student of Professor Pavel Nersessian's at Boston University, Marina completed her Performance Diploma/Undergraduate degree at the Royal Conservatory — The Glenn Gould School in Toronto with Professors John Perry and David Louie.
Over the past few years, Simeonova has taken the stage in Tunisia, Italy, Germany, Canada, the US, Bulgaria and the Netherlands in halls including The Acropolis of Carthage, Koerner Hall, Mazzoleni hall, Temerty Theatre, Bulgaria Hall, 98 Sudbury and the Kröller-Müller Museum, among others.
A staunch supporter of new music, Simeonova is proud to have commissioned and premiered works by B. Abrashev, Alice Hong and Canadian composers Saman Shahi and George Thurgood. She strives to present works of young talents and established composers alike. The 2019-2020 season will see a new recording project of Shahi’s work.
Born into a family of journalists, Simeonova began playing the piano at the age of six and graduated from the National Music School ‘Lyubomir Pipkov,' Sofia, in the studio of Professor Alexander Vassilenko. She studied with Professor Iliya Tchernaev in the National Music Academy in Sofia from 2013-2014, and with Professor John Perry and David Louie in the Royal Conservatory of Music – The Glenn Gould School, from 2014-2018.
As a soloist, her awards include 1st prize at the Second International Competition for Young Pianists in Tunisia, 1st prize at the XVI International Competition ‘Hopes, Talents, Masters’, 2nd prize at the IX International Competition for French music ‘Albert Russel' and the Fifth Festival de la Musique de Pierre-du Sorel, and the 2nd Audience Award at the ‘Klaviersommer Cochem' Festival.
An active chamber music performer, Marina has also won 1st Prize at the Royal Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Competition with the “Tibúron Quintet (of six)” (2016), 1st prize and the Audience Award in the 12th "Florinda Santos" competition in Portugal, as part of a piano duo with Edgar Cardoso (2014), as well 3rd prize and consecutively 2nd prize at the RCM Chamber Music Competition with “The Eastern Trio”, in 2017 and 2018.
In 2012, Marina received a diploma for Outstanding Artistic Achievements from the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria. In 2013, she founded and performed in "Little Summer Concerts", a fundraising festival for young Bulgarian musicians in Plovdiv.
Some of her most recent projects include ‘’High noon – an anthology of Kanye West”, organized by Banded Purple (2018, Toronto), and “Let’s talk about music” - a piano recital to raise awareness of youth struggling with mental illness (2019, Boston).
Marina has also been a soloist of the New Symphony Orchestra, Vratsa Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and others. She gave two solo recitals during the Musica Sem Fronteiras Festival in the cities of Porto and Agueda, Portugal in 2014. She also made her New York City debut in May of 2017, performing at the Gotham Arts piano salon series.
Ms. Simeonova has had the privilege to learn from some of the most famous musicians of our time, such as Leon Fleisher, John O’Connor, Stephen Hough, Robert McDonald, Michel Beroff, Stephen Prutsman, Francine Kay, Alasdair Tait, Colin Carr, Stephen Williamson, the Gryphon trio, Andrez Diaz, Desmond Hoebig, and many others.
Ms. Simeonova was on the jury of the 45th and the 46th edition of the Music Scarborough festival in Toronto. While residing there, she was also the Music Director of Bethany Baptist church from 2015-2017 , and maintained a large private piano studio from 2015-2018.
Marina is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Boston University, in the studio of Pavel Nersessian’s. She has been invited to be the youngest faculty member at the Beauliere Academy of Music in Saint-Marc, Haiti, in 2020.
To find more information about Ms. Simeonova’s upcoming and past performances, please visit https://www.facebook.com/MarinaSimeonovaPianist , or Instagram @marinasmusic
