Ten young violinists will compete for the top places at the Prof. Nedyalka Simeonova International Competition, Haskovo 2026. Ten-year-old Alexander Dimitrov from Plovdiv drew lots to set the order of play, the organisers said.

This story follows our earlier report on the Haskovo Music Days, which said the event runs from 16 to 18 October and that entry to the concerts is free.

The draw formally opened the Prof. Nedyalka Simeonova Music Days. The official opening is tonight at 7pm, with a concert in the main hall of the Zarya-1858 community centre.

One violinist in the oldest age group who had signed up cannot take part.

Prof. Ginka Gichkova, a violin teacher at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, leads the jury. She wished success to the musicians, their parents and her fellow jurors. The other members are Prof. Plamen Dzhurov, a conductor, Prof. Galina Koycheva-Mircheva and senior assistant Dr Stoimen Peev, all teachers at the same academy. Koycheva-Mircheva and Peev teach violin, and Koycheva-Mircheva is also concertmaster of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Angelina Abadzhieva, concertmaster of the Cologne Radio Orchestra in Germany, also sits on the jury.

Sinfonietta Vratsa and the Haskovo Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tsanislav Petkov, play at the opening concert. Abadzhieva is the violin soloist. They will perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, and the Der Rosenkavalier suite by Richard Strauss.