The Sofia Philharmonic and the National Art Gallery are inviting music fans to a series of concerts at the atrium of the gallery's Square 500 building. The events will be held on Fridays, starting at 6.30pm, from 3 July until 7 August. This cultural space will echo with the sounds of masterpieces of chamber orchestra music performed by various groups of the Sofia Philharmonic.

The legendary British rock band Queen is to feature on a series of UK postage stamps over the summer to celebrate its 50th anniversary. They become only the third band to be honoured by Royal Mail, following the Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd in 2016.

The US folk and rock legend and Nobel winner Bob Dylan released his first album of original songs in eight years on Friday, AFP reported. "Rough and Rowdy Ways" is Dylan’s first collection of new material since "Tempest" in 2012, although he has released a number of cover albums in the interim.

The European music celebrates a restart with the 31st Ravenna festival, which will kick off on 21 June with a concert by the Giovanile Cherubini Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. It is the first festival not directed by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, who is now honorary president, and features a programme of 40 events running until 30 July, ANSA reported. They will all take place with full respect of the measures imposed due to the Covid-19 emergency, in the open theatre at the Rocca Brancaleone castle.

Jose Carreras is set to guest star in the Opera D'amore show scheduled for 19 December in Sofia. “The great tenor will make an appearance at an unexpected time with an unexpected repertoire,” the organisers said. Given that Carreras has not taken part in opera shows in the past seven to eight years, his presence will be incorporated in an extremely interesting and never-before-seen way, the organisers explained.

Deserted by tourists, a hotel in Vienna gave itself a temporary one-night-only makeover, turning itself into an outdoor concert hall. The guest bedrooms, which have stood empty during the coronavirus lockdown, were transformed into opera boxes for an evening, and the hotel courtyard into a stage to create a rare moment of joy in the city of music on Saturday.

Some 93 orchestra players and choir singers with the Sofia Philharmonic participated in a performance of the Anthem of Europe, with each of them recording their part at home. Maestro Nayden Todorov, conductor and director of the orchestra, recorded his bit in front of Yoan Leviev’s monumental mural Man and Peace displayed in Hall 8 of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia – an artwork whose message relates to freedom, unity and all the other values bringing us together, especially in trying days like these.

Live concerts and concerts streamed online are two completely different experiences that have different impact on people. They should not be compared and contrasted. Let us also not forget that we are living in the 21st century. The exact opposite may actually happen - concerts streamed online may help us reach audiences who, without necessarily having a good idea of it, have until now thought of our art form as obsolete, says Maestro Nayden Todorov in an interview to EUROPOST.

With masks over their mouths and gloves on their hands, country superstar Luke Combs and his band went to a music studio - in separate rooms - and recorded a new song reflecting the mood of a world dramatically altered by the spreading coronavirus. Singing lyrics like “I miss my mom, I miss my dad,” Combs performed “Six Feet Apart,” a song he wrote on 14 April during a Zoom writing session with songwriters Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder.

Maestro Nayden Todorov introduced some of the artists scheduled to be guests of Sofia Philharmonic during the 2020-2021 season as part of its online project Without Masks. World-renowned soprano Diana Damrau is to open the season under the baton of Pavel Balev on 5 September. Among the soloists are pianist Martha Argerich (Argentina), tenor Juan Diego Florez, Qidon Kremer, Valentina Lisitsa, Frederic Chaslin, Oleg Maisenberg, Maxim Vengerov, as well as the young but already very popular violinist Ray Chen. The postponed concert starring Shlomo Mintz will take place on 11 October.