For the seventh time in Plovdiv this summer, between 24-30 July, will be held a Creative Laboratory for introduction to choral music "Krikor Chetianyan". In the current edition, which is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Krikor Chetianyan's birth, the directors - Krastin Nastev and Sergey Pavlov, and the guest teacher from the USA - James Hahn, will introduce the participants to new, unperformed works from the choral literature.

The highlight of the current course is the work "Into this world" (Four choral seasons) by the American composer Paul Carey, which will be performed in the accompaniment of an instrumental ensemble at the final concert on 29 July at 7 pm in the Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis.

At the end of the concert, conductor Krastin Nastev will present his new book The Chorus and the Choral Conductor in Opera. Aspects of working with an opera chorus". The creative laboratory is held in cooperation with the Municipality of Plovdiv, the National School of Music and Dance "Dobrin Petkov" and the Ancient Plovdiv Municipal Institute.

The Creative Laboratory was established in 2015 by Krikor Chetianyan, a prominent Bulgarian choral conductor and a long-time conducting teacher, and Krastin Nastev, his student and follower, who is currently the conductor of the Varna Opera.

The summer course gives choral conductors, students and music teachers the opportunity to work with leading figures in classical choral music, folk music and jazz; it offers practical work with a choir, individual or group classes in conducting technique and theoretical lectures and is held at the Dobrin Petkov National School of Music and Dance, Plovdiv. The culmination of the Creative Laboratory is a public concert, which traditionally takes place in an emblematic architectural space in Plovdiv.