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From: BBC
From Bulgaria to Bristol: Dimitar Penchev
By contributor Theresa Roche
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Basking in
the success of his musical composition for The British Touring
Shakespeare Company's productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and
Charley's Aunt, Bristol-based Bulgarian Dimitar Pentchev has come a
long way since his first piano lesson.
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Writing to order for these two recent productions,
Dimitar provided a jig, a country dance and a jazz medley.
The jig and the country dance had a particularly
Eastern European flavour, with a sense of sleigh bells and cossacks
dancing – an original touch which Dimitar mixed in with traditional
Irish and English country dance sounds.
Dimitar says his "credo" is versatility and the jazz
number he created for A Midsummer Night's Dream contrasted starkly with
the jigs by using a brass band effect to conjure up the back street bars
of Harlem in the 1930s.
Dimitar also took an acting role as a comic "lion" in
A Midsummer Night's Dream which gave him the chance to be on stage and
play the musical instruments along with the rest of the cast.
For someone who gave his first professional piano
recital when he was only 12 years old, it is not that surprising that
throughout his teens and 20s he found himself booked to perform not just
in Bulgaria but in the Ukraine, Greece, Czech Republic and USSR.
A versatile instrumentalist, Dimitar carved out a
career as a professional musician playing not just as a soloist but also
with orchestras throughout Eastern Europe.
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| Treading
the boards & writing the music |
In his native Bulgaria he worked as a radio presenter,
hosting a morning show called "The Voice of America in Bulgaria" while
studying for his Masters in Pianoforte at the Bulgarian State Music
Academy.
Although he loved performing live music Dimitar soon
felt attracted to becoming the composer who "calls the tune" and started
writing music for theatre.
Prestigious national awards soon followed with his
work gaining the "Best Original Music for a Play" and "Best Score for a
Bulgarian Play" awards. His name became known in Bulgaria.
His big break came in 1999 when he won a full
scholarship to go to the South Methodist University in Dallas Texas. The
Americans loved his distinctive style and he soon found himself
commissioned to write for the Shakespeare in the Park Festival in
Dallas, Texas.
From this came his opportunity to write film music
when he was asked to put some sound into "silent" film. A re-release of
the legendary silent film, "Pandora's Box" (made in 1929) starring the
first "It" girl, Louise Brooks, was Dimitar's first film commission in
America.
Especially written for the piano, his music received
rave reviews in America and Louise Brooks' biographer, Barry Paine,
called his work "the definitive score for 'Pandora's Box'".
Other commissions followed: one to write music to
accompany another old film and one for music for a documentary about
Olive Thomas, a 1920s starlet who died tragically at the age of 27.
A big hit in America, Dimitar wanted to see England
and in 2002 his work earned him a place as a PhD student at the
University of Bristol and has lived here in the Stokes Croft area of the
city ever since.
It was during his time as a post-graduate that he met
Miles Gregory, the 28-year-old director of The British Touring
Shakespeare Company.
Gregory had heard some recordings of Dimitar's music
and was keen to have completely original music for his open air
productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Charley's Aunt.
Dimitar is keen to forge links between British and
Bulgarian theatre directors and he would like to produce plays supported
by a mixed cast of Bulgarian and British musicians as he feels the two
cultures have much to offer each other in theatrical performance.
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January 3, 2002
MEADOWS THEATER ORCHESTRA TO ACCOMPANY CLASSIC SILENT FILM
DALLAS (SMU) -- The Meadows Theater Orchestra at SMU’s
Meadows School of the Arts will give its first public performance on
Thursday, January 17 at 8:30 p.m. at The Women’s Museum in Fair Park,
providing live accompaniment for the classic silent film “Pandora’s
Box,” starring Louise Brooks. The orchestra will premiere a
specially-commissioned original score by
Dimitar Pentchev, an award-winning
Bulgarian composer and pianist currently studying for a master’s degree
in piano performance at SMU.
Filmed in Berlin in 1928, “Pandora’s Box” was directed by G.W. Pabst,
whom Roger Ebert calls the “master of psycho-sexual drama.” Louise
Brooks’ role in the movie defined the sexually liberated flapper of the
1920s and remains one of her best-known performances. The movie is the
first offering in “Silent Sisters: A Salute to Women in Silent Film,” a
four-night series presented by The Women’s Museum. For ticket
information, please call the museum at 214-915-0891.
Formed in fall 2001, the Meadows Theater Orchestra replicates the
typical theater orchestra of the vaudeville and silent film era in
America. The ensemble includes a rhythm section of piano, bass and
percussion, together with violin, clarinets, saxophones, trumpet and
trombone -- an instrumentation capable of tremendous tonal and stylistic
variety.
The Meadows Theater Orchestra is conducted by Dr. Alan Wagner,
assistant professor of music education at SMU. Dr. Wagner studied
conducting with Frank Battisti, James Arrowood, Craig Kirchoff,
Elizabeth Green, Lary Rachleff and Carl St. Clair. He taught
instrumental music and jazz studies in the public schools of Ohio, New
York and Florida for 14 years and at Emory University before coming to
SMU in 1998. In addition to the theater orchestra, he currently directs
the Meadows Wind Orchestra and the Meadows Jazz Vocal Ensemble at SMU.
Voices
of Change lauds the many talents of young composers
By OLIN CHISM Staff Critic
Published September 30, 2001
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The great mass
of concertgoers may not realize it yet, but these are interesting
times for music. The old aesthetic wars of the 20th century have
been fought and, if not forgotten, at least ignored as lacking any
relevance to today's young composers. The aim of most of them seems
to be simply to write some interesting music and, if possible,
attract some listeners. A healthy attitude.
On Saturday
afternoon Voices of Change presented its fourth annual Russell Horn
Young Composers Competition concert in Horchow Auditorium of the
Dallas Museum of Art. The music was varied and interesting, and the
professionalism of both the composers and their performers was
obvious. At the end of the program, awards were handed out.
First place
went to Dimitar Pentchev,
a native of Bulgaria who's doing graduate work in piano at Southern
Methodist University. Second was Joseph E. Harchanko of the
University of Texas at Austin, third was Karim Al-Zand of Rice
University, and honorable mention went to Jason Biggs of SMU. All
are in their late 20s or early 30s. They were selected for the
program from among 10 candidates.
Mr. Pentchev
is from the old tradition of composer/performers. He played his own
work, Conversations, in collaboration with a fellow Bulgarian,
violinist Vesselin Demirev. Conversations is a tremendously
appealing piece that alternates lovely sounds with grittier
episodes. Overall, there is a mournful cast to the work.
First place seemed justified.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra would also be justified in
commissioning a work from
Mr. Pentchev
to vary what has become its too-predictable repertory.
Mr.
Harchanko's Incessant Compulsion was strikingly different in mood.
Whereas Conversations comes out of an old Eastern European
tradition, Incessant Compulsion is an energetic work for percussion
that has no tradition to draw on, or at least none older than that
of, say, Bartok. Its mood is upbeat and its exploration of mostly
tuned percussion sounds is exhilarating. Mr. Harchanko conducted and
members of the University of Texas Percussion Ensemble were
impressive with an obviously difficult score. Mr. Al-Zand could not
be present. Mr.
Biggs' Daydream proved to be a pretty and rather mournful work for
solo flute that well exploited the instrument's rather limited
capability for variety in sound. Jason Blank was the excellent
soloist.
Copyright © 2001
Dallas
Morning News
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The Dallas Morning News
Thursday, August 2, 2001
Theater Review
'Much Ado' takes a youthful air
Junior Players
cultivate Shakespeare classic set on 1960s coast like pros
By Nancy Churnin
Staff Writer of the Dallas Morning News
Youth isn't wasted on the young when Junior Players tackles
Much Ado About Nothing.
The high energy and spirits of
22 local teens, ages 15 to 19 shake up Shakespeare in a way
the Bard probably would have loved. Many of the players make
their entrances on skateboards or Rollerblades.
Certainly the Samuel Grand
Park Amphitheater audience members approved. Stretched out on
their blankets, they munched on refreshments and laughed as
the sky melted from blue to black.
But this production in cooperation with the Shakespeare
Festival of Dallas, wasn't all about hijinks. The ensemble
cast, one of Junior Players' best in memory, brought home the
bittersweet flavor of a comedy that has much to say about the
difference between true love and the kind that can be undone
by appearances.
Beatrice and Benedick, two wits who swear never to marry,
anchor the show. Tall and lanky Travis James finds the charm
in Benedick's know-it-all demeanor, while Bridget Dougherty's
sharp delivery matches him barb for barb as Beatrice.
But the fun starts when
Benedick's friend Claudio(the appealing Shawn Parikh) and his
fiancée , Beatrice's cousin Hero (spunky Rosaura Cruz), try to
fix the two up.
Claudio and his friends gossip
about how Beatrice pines for Benedick when they know Benedick
is eavesdropping. Hero and her friends talk about how Benedick
longs for Beatrice when Beatrice doesn't know that they know
she's listening. At one comic point, Beatrice, trying to hide
from Hero while creeping closer to hear more, steps into a
well and emerges soaking wet.
Under Matt Tomlanovich's deft
direction, the kids convey the tough stuff, too. When the evil
Don John (played with wild-eyed zeal by Remigio Ortiz) spreads
lies that make Claudio doubt the purity of Hero, several of
these young actors make you feel the pain.
Mr. Tomlanovich sets the play
in coastal California in the early 1960s, which allows for
some funky Laugh-In-type dance scenes
Rounding out the excellent
cast, Mari Burke's voice soars as Balthasar, a cadet whose
songs comment on the action, with lyrics by Mr. Tomlanovich
and music by Dimitar Pentchev.
Tasia Munoz delights as Dogberry, the constable with the
questionable questioning style. William DeButts infuses Don
Pedro, the colonel who oversees so many of the proceedings,
with a melancholy air, and Alana Harper crosses gender to
invest Hero's father, Leonato, with passionate fury.
Junior Players is a local
treasure, providing free performances for everyone else. But
the good news is that while you may go to Much Ado About
Nothing to support a worthy cause, you'll end up seeing a
show that can stand up to the best in town.
Copyright © 2001 Dallas
Morning News
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The
Dallas Morning News
Saturday, August 5,
2000
Theater Review
Youth lights up 'Twelfth Night'
Junior Players production at times sets cast adrift
By Nancy Churnin
Staff Writer of the Dallas Morning News
It used to be a novelty to pour old Shakespeare into new
bottles - dressing up the Bard in Western, turn-of-the
century or modern threads.
Now it's more of a
novelty to catch a production, such as Junior Players'
Twelfth Night, that refuses to be categorized
by accent, costume or set - here, a bare wooden
structure be Russell Parkman that's devoid of any
identifying marks.
It makes one miss those
new bottles.
Still, what this
Twelfth Night has going for it is youth - and
that's no small thing. Director Matt Tomlanovich has
guided 23 students from 14 area high schools at Samuel
Grand Park Amphitheater, where patrons stretched back on
blankets and lawn chairs, sipping cool drinks and
nibbling pasta as the azure of the sky melted into
violet, the black Wednesday night.
The show, the company's
10th Discover Shakespeare production, concludes a summer
program that's free for both participants and audience -
one of many that Junior Players offers to more than
3,000 children in Dallas annually.
There are moments -
usually the comic ones - when high spirits are all that
you need. Check out when Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew
Aguecheek and Fabian (the Three Stooges-like Arthur
Fisher, Rossi Hill and Edward Castrejon) team up to
trick the pompous Malvolio (Ben Lutz, showing that
nothing succeeds like excess).
Then there are awkward
lapses when the show offers two actresses as the sister
and brother who lose each other at sea and are later
mistaken for each other on shore. When the point of the
play is mixed-up gender roles (a woman falls in love
with Viola because she thinks Viola is a man and later
marries Viola's twin brother thinking that he is Viola),
this extra gender bending confuses the point.
But while this show does
not hang together well enough to prove memorable as a
whole, the parts - the music and the way the kids
sometimes make the scenes sizzle - more than make up for
it. Among the talented ensemble, Alana Harper wows the
audience as a singing fool. It's sweet how
Dimitar Pentchev's
pensive score with the Eastern European twang gives her
a chance to shine, and she takes it.
Copyright © 2000
Dallas Morning News
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