After the roundtable discussion on the topic “The Folklore Musician Profession in Bulgaria – Status and Problems of Education and Implementation”, which we organized on 26th of September in Sofia together with ensemble leaders and other interested parties, we sent a letter to the Minister of Culture, Mr. Nayden Todorov, with the proposals around which we united during the discussion.

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Minster,

Since 2022, the Bulgarian Music Association, as the largest representative organization of professional musicians-performers, has been actively developing the project “Profession “Folklore Musician”, which aims to identify the problems faced by this profession in terms of education, the functioning of professional folklore ensembles and the role of municipalities in their financing, development and sustainability. During the first year of fieldwork, meetings were held with the leaders of the 14 folklore ensembles, schools with professional folklore studies and deputy mayors for culture in a total of 12 settlements. The results of our study show an extremely deteriorated situation in which professional folklore art functions in the country.

After 1989, when the state withdrew from its role as a one hundred percent donor, organizer, controlling body and owner of the state ensembles, their development took a negative direction – they became financially and organizationally dependent on the municipalities, their numbers were reduced, some of them no longer even exist, others are no longer professional, but amateur. At present, with the support of the municipalities, only 13 ensembles have been preserved, but they exist on the verge of survival.

The main problem can be defined as the low remuneration of the artists in the ensembles, which is at or around the minimum wage. In general, there are no opportunities for financial growth, no social benefits or reliefs, since there is no far-sighted labor policy. The remuneration is extremely insufficient to cover the minimum standard of living, which leads to an outflow of personnel to the educational system and a lack of interest from young musicians to take this professional path. The composition of the ensembles is very aging.

On the other hand, this negative aspect in the professional development of folklore musicians leads to negative effects in the system of professional music education – both secondary and higher education. We are witnessing a lack of interest in higher education in the arts for training in traditional musical instruments, which means that in the next 10 years we will find ourselves in a situation of a serious lack of personnel to fill the folklore ensembles and the cessation of their activities.

Scarce finances for activities are also a problem for almost all ensembles – there are no or extremely insufficient funds for the renewal of the music, dance fund and the “Costume” fund, despite the desire of some of the municipalities to support their ensembles. And if there are such funds, it is not guaranteed that they are allocated every calendar year. The financing of the ensembles depends on the budget of the municipalities, which in turn is tied to their scale, i.e. the situation of each ensemble is strictly individual. Municipalities are experiencing great difficulties in maintaining the bases and providing human resources and support for their ensembles. Therefore, they are mainly focused on maintaining the staff numbers. But this is far from enough for an ensemble to function as an important and significant cultural institution for local communities.

On the other hand, this negative aspect in the professional development of folklore musicians leads to negative effects in the system of professional music education – both secondary and higher education. We are witnessing a lack of interest in higher education in the arts for training in traditional musical instruments, which means that in the next 10 years we will find ourselves in a situation of a serious lack of personnel to fill the folklore ensembles and the cessation of their activities.

Scarce finances for activities are also a problem for almost all ensembles – there are no or extremely insufficient funds for the renewal of the music, dance fund and the “Costume” fund, despite the desire of some of the municipalities to support their ensembles. And if there are such funds, it is not guaranteed that they are allocated every calendar year. The financing of the ensembles depends on the budget of the municipalities, which in turn is tied to their scale, i.e. the situation of each ensemble is strictly individual. Municipalities are experiencing great difficulties in maintaining the bases and providing human resources and support for their ensembles. Therefore, they are mainly focused on maintaining the staff numbers. But this is far from enough for an ensemble to function as an important and significant cultural institution for local communities.

In this regard, we send you the main proposals around which the participants united during the discussion:

1. The need to build a comprehensive strategy with clear priorities in the field of culture, in which professional education in the arts should have a key place;
2. To increase the capacity of the Ministry of Culture team by appointing an expert or team of experts to be responsible for folklore and folklore ensembles;
3. To take steps in cooperation with the municipalities to change the status of the ensembles and make them regional cultural institutes in order to combine state and municipal funding, as well as to provide an opportunity for the assignment of state tasks in the field of preserving and promoting folklore;
4. To propose the development of a methodology for regional cultural institutes in the field of performing arts, in which specific indicators for folklore ensembles should be added;
5. In addition to the subsidy from the municipality and the state, to stimulate project funding through programs at the Ministry of Culture;
6. To provide opportunities for the salary to be guaranteed by the municipal subsidy, and additional remuneration of artists to be co-financed by the state funding according to a specific methodology for regional cultural institutes;
7. To amend the Law on the Protection and Development of Culture in Article 9, paragraph 2, in order to ensure a real, rather than a wishful financial commitment of the municipalities to the activities of the regional cultural institutes;
8. To amend the Law on the Protection and Development of Culture to ensure a real, rather than a wishful commitment of the municipalities regarding the creation of municipal cultural funds;

Dear Minister,

In connection with the above, we call on you to initiate a working group and activities in the Ministry of Culture to formulate a strategy for the preservation of folklore art, the development of a regional status for folklore ensembles and a methodology for state funding, as well as to launch the necessary procedures that require changes to the legislation. If the state does not take immediate action to revive professional folklore art, we risk losing not only part of our cultural heritage, but also key elements that shape our society and its identity. In order to prevent this from happening, an urgent response is needed and long-term and sustainable solutions are found both in terms of folklore ensembles and in terms of arts education.

The Bulgarian Music Association is ready to join and support these activities and provide the results of its project.