A performance by Russian violinist Vadim Repin, known for his pro-Putin stance, is scheduled for 14 May at the Sofia Philharmonic. Activists drew attention to the planned concert back in March, but there has been no response from the organisers.
On the day of the performance, a protest by the Bulgarian Union of Artists and Musicians is planned outside the Philharmonic building. The event is supported by the local Bulgarian Agrarian People’s Union party. As stated in a statement posted on the party’s website: “We cannot accept that the Sofia Philharmonic is providing a platform for Putin’s violinist to perform whilst Russia is killing Ukrainian artists and destroying theatres, museums and cultural monuments.”
Vadim Repin – a Russian violinist living in Switzerland and Italy – has never condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In 2022, he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, and throughout the years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has performed with the Kremlin State Orchestra. He is married to Svetlana Zakharova, a prima ballerina at the Bolshoi Theatre and a former member of the Russian State Duma for the United Russia party.
Previously, the Mannheim Philharmonic and the Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra in Florida cancelled Repin’s performances due to his stance. The performance in Sofia is scheduled to go ahead despite the fact that the Ukrainian Embassy in Bulgaria sent a note to Nadiya Neynska, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Bulgarian publication Faktor.bg reports that the Ukrainian side has not received a response to its appeal.
In addition, the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Bulgaria, ‘Mother Ukraine’, has called for the concert to be cancelled. In its appeal to European institutions, including the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Pini Picherno; the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaia Kallas; the Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education, Nelly Rill; European Commissioner for Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef, and Head of the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria Yordanka Chobanova, the association expressed “concern regarding Russian hybrid operations against Bulgaria and Europe, including the use of so-called ‘soft power’”. This was reported by the organisation Arts Against Aggression.