The 64th edition of March Music Days International Festival - one of the oldest and most renowned international festival stages in Bulgaria – will start on March 14th this year. The festival is also one of the founders of the Bulgarian Festival Association (BFA) and holder of the honorary title of the European Festival Association "European Festival".

In 2025 the festival program consists of 29 events and offers wide range of music from the Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary music and jazz, elite artists, ensembles and orchestras from 16 countries and 3 continents.

Among the guests of the festival are such high-class performers as Gidon Kremer with his world-famous trio, as well as the phenomenal Spanish clarinetist Pablo Barragan in the program of Alexander Sitkovetsky's elite piano trio.

Extraordinary will also be the encounters with the artistic provocations of the American string quartet “Brooklyn Rider”, visiting Bulgaria for the first time, the exclusive meetings with the exceptional French pianist Adam Lalum, also debuting in Bulgaria, with the world-famous Czech horn player Radek Baborak. The official opening of the festival will be intriguing as well with the participation of Alexander Sitkovetsky and Andrey Jonitsa as soloists and the Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nayden Todorov.

One of the legendary contemporary European recorder players, the Dutchman Eric Bosgraf, is also arriving in Ruse especially for the festival, in a joint program with the well-known Bulgarian masters of early European music in Europe, Yavor Genov (lute) and Sabina Yordanova (baroque bassoon). The series of pre-classical festival programs is complemented by the premiere concert of the unique Bulgarian vocal ensemble for early music Cantanti Dai Monti Verdi, conducted by Severin Vassilev.

As a kind of counterpoint to the old European tradition, a special place is occupied by the tour of the unique German crossover artist and pianist Kai Schumacher, often called the "lone rider of the unlimiting piano", with an exceptionally strong American program, an attractive mix of classics, avant-garde, electronics and post-rock culture - a true instrumental theater and a special challenge for the youngest audience.

The selection of visiting Bulgarian performers attracts a number of eminent native musicians with an enviable career on the international stage, such as Prof. Alexander Hinchev and Prof. Georgi Spasov, whose sixty-year creative activity will be celebrated. The festival audience in Ruse will also have the privilege of hearing live for the first time the unique master violins "Stradivari" ("Baron Wittgenstein") and "Guarneri del Gesu", provided by the Bulgarian state to the world-famous Bulgarian violinists Svetlin Rusev and Liya Petrova.

A special place in the program is also occupied by such exclusive native musicians as the world-famous soprano Krasimira Stoyanova, Violeta Radomirska, Alexander Hinchev, Plamena Mangova, Pancho Vladigerov – Jr., as well as leading chamber ensembles such as the “Frosch” string quartet.

The memory of one of the most significant figures in contemporary Bulgarian music – the composer Lazar Nikolov, will be honored with the program of elite Bulgarian performers such as Tsvetana Ivanova, Ventsislav Blagoev, Lily Stoeva and Yasen Teodosiev. The world premiere of the latest composition by the renowned Bulgarian composer Bozhidar Spasov, who lives in Germany, is the highlight in the special program of the German Abstrakt trio.

The festival will also bring together leading Bulgarian orchestras in Ruse, including the Sofia Philharmonic, the Chamber Ensemble "Sofia Soloists" with conductor Konstantin Dobroykov, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio with conductor Konstantin Ilievski, the Ruse Philharmonic, as well as the Big Band of "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" National Academy of Music with soloists Michail Yosifov, Ventsislav Blagoev, Velislav Stoyanov, Ivan Stoyanov and Hristo Yotsov in an attractive jazz program. Great expectations are set for the festival premiere of the Ruse State Opera with the latest work by composer Lyubomir Denev - the chamber opera "Alma" (world premiere), inspired by the life of Gustav Mahler's famous wife - Alma Mahler (conductor Gergan Tsenov, director Vera Nemirova and scenography Yulian Tabakov), as well as the Ruse opera production "Madame Butterfly" by J. Puccini, with a production team of Plamen Beykov, Viliana Valcheva and Yulian Tabakov.

The official closing of the festival on March 30 is entrusted to the Ruse Festival Orchestra and Choir under the baton of Emil Tabakov with the performance of Verdi's "Requiem" and an impressive international team of soloists such as Krasimira Stoyanova, Violeta Radomirska, Mauro Secchi and Pete Tanapat.

The main media partners of the festival are traditionally the Bulgarian National Radio, Bulgarian National Television, BTA, Live 7 TV, as well as a number of local, regional and national electronic and print media, providing wide publicity for the event, as well as for our partners, sponsors and donors.

64. International Festival "March Music Days" - Ruse, 2025, is organized by the Municipality of Ruse under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture.

Main sponsors and donors of the festival: A1 Bulgaria Ltd., United Bulgarian bank Ltd., Investbank JSC, Overgas Inc JSC, Gamaconsult Ltd., Dunarit  JSC, Bulmarket DM Ltd., Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd., Dunav tours JSC, Dunav Plazа Hotel, Municipal Markets Ltd., VIK Ltd. - Ruse, Nisovo Winery.

Partners: The National Culture Fund, National academy of music Prof. Pancho Vladigerov, House Museum Pancho Vladigerov – Sofia, State Opera – Ruse, National School of Arts Prof. Veselin Stoyanov – Ruse, Municipal company Ruse Art, Ruse Art Gallery, Regional Library Lyuben Karavelov – Ruse, Society of Artists – Ruse.

Main media partners: Bulgarian National Radio, Bulgarian News Agency, Bulgarian National Television, Regional Television Center – Ruse, Radio Ruse, Live7 TV, Arena Media, Utro newspaper, Bryag newspaper, Ruse and national electronic media.