Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
The Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv is the most reputed higher-learning institute in the field of the arts outside the Bulgarian capital. It is recognised as a provider of highly educated professionals in the fields of music, performing and visual arts and pedagogues and educators in these spheres.
More than 1000 students are currently studying at the Academy Faculties of Music Pedagogy, Music Folklore and Choreography and Faculty of Fine Arts. They are making use of modern and favourable facilities - an academic library with an information center, a library of audio and video records, audio and video studios, computer rooms, exhibition areas and a recently refurnished concert hall with 140 seats.
The largest scale of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes includes:
Pedagogy of Music Teaching, Performing Art - Classical Instrument and Classical Singing, Performing Art - Pop and Jazz, Conducting - Choir and Orchestra, Composition, Musicology, Sound Engineering, Orthodox Church Music, Media Music Editing, Musical and Stage Production, Music Therapy;
Performing Art - Folk Instrument and Folk Singing, Performing Art - Bulgarian traditional music with classical instruments, Conducting of Folk Ensembles, Bulgarian Folk Choreography, Ballet - Ballet Pedagogy and Ballet Production, Contemporary Dance Techniques, Art Management, PR of Art organizations;
Pedagogy of Fine Arts Teaching, Scenography, Church Painting, Clothing Design, Graphic Design and Photography, Graphics, Painting, Sculpture, Costume Design and Multimedia and Virtual Reality.
Since 2011 PhD students have joined the academic studies and research activities in the professional range of Music and Dance Art - scientific subjects: ‘Methods of Music and Fine Arts Teaching’, ‘Musicology and Music Art’ and ‘Choreography’.
The Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts is a higher school of European type and its Diplomas are acknowledged worldwide.
The Academy was the first Bulgarian higher school in the sphere of the arts to receive full state accreditation in 1999 - a recognition which has marked the beginning of a period of change and institutional rejuvenation.
The Academy’s major assets are its students, lecturers and instructors who are committed to the preservation and further development of Bulgaria’s rich cultural traditions and their promotion and presentation to the European and world audience.
During its 50-year history of development and growth the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts maintains active cooperation with a large number of European culture institutions and higher education art schools, among them Hochschule fur Musik ‘Franz Liszt’ - Weimar, Deutschland; ‘St. Moniuszko’ Academy of Music - Gdansk, Poland; The Gnesins’ Academy of Music - Moscow, Russia; The Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory - Russia; Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre - Vilnius, Lithuania; Uludag University - Bursa, Turkey being the closer and most active partners. Numerous conferences, symposia, seminars and other scientific and artistic events have been organized both in Plovdiv and at partner Universites and many anniversaries of famous composers, musicians and artists - commemorated.
In August 2007 the Academy was awarded the ERASMUS University Charter for the whole period of operation of the ERASMUS sectoral programme, namely 2007 - 2014. In the spring of 2014 the Academy was awarded the ERASMUS Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) for the new European Union programme ERASMUS+.
ERASMUS partnership and most successful cooperation and academic exchange has been established with many prestigious European higher education institutions - conservatories, academies and art schools: MDW University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria; ‘G. Tartini’ Conservatory in Trieste, Italy; ‘F.A. Bonporti’ Conservatory in Trento, Italy; Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; Lahti University of Applied Sciences in Finland; Southern Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Odense, Denmark; ‘K. Lipinski’ Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland; ‘St. Moniuszko’ Academy of Music in Gdansk, Poland; Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal in Magdeburg, Germany; Technological Educational Institution (T.E.I.) of Athens in Greece; Trakya University in Edirne, Turkey; University of Porto in Portugal; Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Jaen in Spain and many others.
The Academy has also signed Interinstitutional Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding for academic exchange and cooperation with Minzu University, China; Institute Seni - Surakarta, Indonesia and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Worldwide.
Since 2004 the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts has been an active member of the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC).
It has been also a long-year member of the UNESCO International Organization of Folklore Art (IOV).

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Plovdiv - Ancient and Eternal
Have you ever heard about the sunny country of Bulgaria, situated in the most fruitful land of Europe? God has poured out here lavishly all his gifts - the sea, the rivers, the mountains, the valleys?
Have you ever heard about Plovdiv - the town, where after each of your steps you hear the echo of the thousands years of history? Where, over three hills, had spread out a town, even more ancient and charming? It's there, in this town, where the human voice and the music of different instruments are raising high over the noise and the vanity of everyday life and trying to sing better than birds, wandering off to the infinite blue sky. Because there, atop of three hills, the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts has been situated - at this place the history, the present day and the future go always together and make the inspiration for the young musical talents from Bulgaria, Australia, Asia, Аmerica, the countries of Europe.
If you haven't still heard about this place - WELCOME!
Plovdiv -a town that felt the extreme power of different centrifugal and centripetal forces. It has been defined as 'crossroads' in any historical document that mentions it; 'crossroads' - meaning it geographically as well as spiritually. It has been fated to be a crossroads for thousands of years. Thracians, Hellenes, Romans, Slavs inhabited these lands. The genes would combine to give birth to such a multi-coloured palette of spiritual values and …contradictions also.
One can find three different symbols of this history situated on three of the seven hills in the town. On top of Nebet tepe /hill/ there are remains from Neolithic age. On top of Sahhat tepe /hill/ one of the oldest clock towers in East Europe was built in the 16th century. On top of Bunardzhik /hill/ a statue of the Soviet soldier named Alyosha stays just next to the Russian monument that was erected in 1881 to commemorate the Russian tsar Alexander the First and the soldiers who died to liberate Bulgaria from Turkish yoke.
Here you might also be tempted by the view of the nearby Rhodopi mountains and the quietly flowing Maritsa river. But the real temptation is the history, the spirit of this town even older than the Eternal Rome. A town that is situated on seven hills. A town that has been defeated, destroyed, fired by Celts, Goths, Huns and others who had either passed through it as strangers or remained to continue living for generations. A town that has been restored and resurrected. And today different ethnic groups - a multi-faced community - live together here. And thus you face that polysemic cultural heritage.
Such elaborate historical alloy gives prerequisites for Plovdiv to be a cradle of numerous initial ideas and projects:
» The first class school 'St. St. Cyril and Methodius' was founded here by Naiden Gerov in 1850. It marked the beginning of the modern secular education in Bulgaria.
» Here on 11th May, 1858 the first celebration in Bulgaria of the day of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius took place.
» In 1855 Stanislav Dospevski organized the first exhibition of icons at Naiden Gerov's place. It turned to be the first art exhibition for Bulgaria.
» Hristo G.Danov laid the foundations of the first Bulgarian book publishing, printing and distribution here, in Plovdiv, in 1855.
» The first mass said in Bulgarian was in Plovdiv in the church 'Sveta Bogoroditsa'/ Mother of God/ in 1859.
» The first theatre house in Bulgaria was opened in Plovdiv and there in 1881 the first performance was played for the audience. The event marked the beginning of the professional theatre in Bulgaria.
» The first brewery opened after the Liberation, in 1881, it was the starting point for the Bulgarian brewing industry.
» The first public park in Bulgaria was made by the court gardener and Sultan Abdul Azis' favourite Lucienne Chevalier in 1882 /some sources even claim 1879/. This man made miracles with the the town outlook at that time.
» The first exhibition of artists is shown at the National library in Plovdiv in 1889. There were over eighty pictures by Ivan Markvichka and Anton Mitov.
» The first congress in shorthand writing in Bulgaria was held in Plovdiv in 1892 following the initiative of Anton Bezenshek.
» In 1892 the town became a host of the First Bulgarian agricultural and industrial exhibition with foreign participation. The director was the writer Mihalaki Georgiev. Nowadays the successor of this initiative is the Plovdiv International Fair.

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From October 2022, the Academy of Music, Dance and Visual Arts "Prof. Asen Diamandiev" - Plovdiv has been selected as an official partner of the EU initiative - New European Bauhaus.
The initiative brings together the cultural and creative dimension with the European Green Deal, aiming to show how sustainable innovation offers tangible, positive experiences in our everyday lives.
The new European Bauhaus is the link between the world of science and technology and the world of art and culture. Together we will work for places, practices, and experiences that are:
Enriching, inspired by art and culture, responding to needs beyond functionality;
Sustainable, in harmony with nature, the environment, and our planet;
Inclusive, encouraging a dialogue across cultures, disciplines, genders and ages.