As the largest representative organization of professional musicians and performers in our country, the Bulgarian Music Association express its deep concern about the ongoing unfair payment of the musical ensembles of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

The four musical ensembles of the BNR – the Symphony Orchestra with conductor Konstantin Ilievski, the Big Band with conductor Antoni Donchev, the Folk Music Orchestra with conductor Dimitar Hristov and the Mixed Choir with conductor Lyubomira Alexandrova – employ colleagues who are some of the best professionals in their field. Their musical production has been recognized worldwide for years thanks to international radio exchange and numerous concert performances.

These ensembles occupy an exceptional place in the country’s cultural ecosystem. The Bulgarian National Radio is the largest producer of Bulgarian music, and its musical formations have a key role in creating the Golden Fund of the Radio – a kind of sound archive of the national musical history. At the same time, they are an indispensable platform for Bulgarian contemporary composers, who thanks to them have the opportunity to realize, present and preserve their works in a professional and accessible form. This makes the ensembles not only guardians of tradition, but also active participants in contemporary musical development.

Although steps have been taken in recent years to increase salaries, they are limited to limited indexations within the framework of existing regulatory mechanisms. These are more administrative adjustments than real change, and they do not have the capacity to catch up with the serious and long-term accumulated salary gap. As a result, salaries in the musical ensembles of the Bulgarian National Radio remain disproportionately low – both in relation to the high qualification and intensity of work, and in relation to the objective economic situation, including inflation and the rising cost of living. The existing legal framework does not allow for flexibility or sustainable salary increases, which leads to a systematic undervaluation of labor and a real risk to the sustainable existence of these ensembles.

Due to the specific status of the Bulgarian National Radio as a public media outlet, these ensembles cannot benefit from the financial mechanisms available to other cultural institutions, including delegated budgets. This places them in a particularly vulnerable position and creates the need for urgent, sustainable and legislatively guaranteed solutions that do not depend on momentary policies or managerial will.

The lack of adequate remuneration not only demotivates current professionals, but also has a long-term demoralizing effect on young musicians. Without guarantees of decent working conditions and development, many of them are turning to careers outside the country. This threatens the continuity between generations and leads to an irreversible loss of talent, which is necessary for the future of Bulgarian musical culture.

We believe that with clear political will, inter-institutional dialogue and legislative changes, this case can be resolved permanently, in a spirit of respect for the work of the hundreds of musicians who create, preserve and share Bulgarian music with the general public on a daily basis.

We call on the members of the Committee on Culture and Media in the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Finance, as well as all involved institutions, to consider this issue as a priority and to initiate the necessary changes that will guarantee fair remuneration, sustainability and development of the musical ensembles of the Bulgarian National Radio – one of the important pillars of Bulgarian musical culture.

Bulgarian Music Association
Board of Directors