The most prestigious awards in Bulgarian music were handed out at the Music Theatre Stefan Makedonski last Thursday.

The day of the leaders of the National Revival coincided with the celebrated award show for dance and music art, Crystal Lire 2001. Musicians were judged in 15 categories, such as orchestra performance, young singer, jazz, and pop and rock music. Musicians in each category were nominated by the Union Of Bulgarian Musicians And Dancers. Music critics, chamber ensembles and conductors also took part in the show.

The event was organized with the help of Classic FM radio and the Ministry of Culture, whose guests, from the Varna Ensemble for Folklore, presented the premiere of Where's the Red Wine by Nikolai Kaufman. The opera and folklore portion of the spectacle was staged by famous Bulgarian choreographer Petar Angelov.

This year's show was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Union Of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, and secret voting selected some of the best laureates with Stela Dimitrova, a singer and composer, acting as chairman of the jury.

The Sofia Symphony Orchestra shared the stage with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, although the latter took home the award in the genre of orchestra.

The youngest representative, winning the award for best young performer, was Georgi Cherkin (piano), who beat out Grigor Palikarov (conductor) and Kaloyan Boyadjiev (ballet dancer) in the same category. The contestants for best instrumentalist were Mihail Slavov (piano), Lidya Oshavkova (flute) and Anatoli Krastev (cello). Slavov emerged the winner.

The chamber ensemble Eolina quartet beat out Valya Balkanska for an award in the folklore (singing) category. "The performers choice to exclusively play in accompaniment with authentic folklore created one complete wholeness," said Zheni Zaharieva, chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians And Dancers, referring to all of the nominees.

The category of pop and rock music was left up to the audience to choose a winner. The nominees were Valdi Totev, Vesselin Marinov and Slang. Totev, the soloist of Sturcite band, won the affection, and the votes, of those in attendance.

In the folklore (music) category, Stefan Chapkanov's songs created for the Strandja Ensemble emerged victorious, while the prima donna of Bulgarian Opera, Alexandrina Pendachanska, won in the opera category. Rozalia Bix was awarded for her work as a music critic, and Evgeni Zheliazkov was recognized for best music teacher.

All of the contestants were presented to the jury with a CD, video sketch, biography, picture and address.

The Crystal Lire awards finished with a performance of Where Are You Red Wine. The dance show by professor Petar Angelov was performed by the Varna folklore ensemble. The show, a ritual folklore display from the Eastern parts of the country, featured myths and legends from the country's history. Angelov was a prize winner for both choreography and directing of the spectacle.