Twenty years ago, a children's vocal group was created in Bulgaria, Bon-Bon: smiling, talented and very artistic children who immediately won admirers. Back at that time everything was different - from the repertoire to the stage presentation of the Bonbons. What singled them out included playful melodies, nice and meaningful lyrics tailored to their tender age, the natural behavior of children, a pronounced closeness to pop culture, without however neglecting classics.

On 9 April a big concert will be given at the National Palace of Culture Hall No. 1 to mark the twentieth anniversary of Bon-Bon. Together with the young singers some of their already grown-up members will sing on stage - famous Poly Genova and LaTiDa trio. Guest stars include Bulgarian celebrity singers Yordanka Hristova, Nelly Rangelova, Donny & Netty, Sylvia and Tedi Katzatov, Miahela Fileva, Grafa and others. The instrumental part has been entrusted to the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra and a few leading musicians - Konstantin Tsekov (piano), Stoyan Yankulov-Stundzhi (percussions) and conductor Hristo Pavlov.

More about the history of Bon-Bon and the anniversary concert, from Rozi Karaslavova, music pedagogue - founder and leader of Bon-Bon vocal group.

„While studying at the National School of Music in Sofia I was in the class of a leading piano teacher, Emilia Kaneva. As a pupil I sang at the Pim-Pam vocal group - we had many concerts, foreign tours and a diverse and nice repertoire. The group's leader was late Boris Karadimchev - a celebrated Bulgarian songwriter. I later continued my studies at the National Academy of Music and sang with various bands. At that time I gave birth to my daughter and when she grew up I took her to Pim-Pam. I liked working with children so much that I decided to set up a vocal group myself. My associate is Victoria Mihaylova and we are still together at Bon-Bon. We set up a private vocal group. I do not know the precise number of children who have been trained at Bon-Bon but some of them took up singing professionally and they are still with us like Poly Genova, LaTiDa trio and others. I am convinced that our success is due to that we are a great team.”

Bon-Bon Music is the name of the music school created only later. The idea was to let teenagers go on singing after age 12-13 instead of “forcing” them into something like a “retirement”. This change comes with the change of voices during puberty. Rozi Karaslavova and her composer husband Boris Chakarov who is arranger of most of the repertoire, decided to set up the school so as to enable children to go on with their interests in music. They also work with specialist for the stage presentation of the vocal group - stage-director Vania Ivanova, choreographer Zhasmina Stoyanova and more.

„I can see that some classical Bulgarian children's songs are somewhat forgotten. Sometimes when teaching to kids old Bulgarian school songs we explain to them about the time of their creation. We make new arrangement to take them closer to present-day child mentality. We work with famous composers - apart from Boris Chakarov, music for us is composed by Borislava Taneva, Krassimir Miletkov and Stefan Dimitrov.  Lyrics are by Alexander Petrov, Volen Nikolaev and Yulia Karakasheva.  We learn and perform in various styles - pop, rap and soul. About 35 Bonbons have graduated the National School of Music in Sofia. Many of them have become professional singers. I am happy to see that in their careers they use their experience from their Bon-Bon childhood.”

As to stage partners for the concert on 9 April, Rozi said that these are celebrities with whom the young singers have worked, and have taken part in various initiatives. The program is retrospective and presents songs of Bon-Bon from the group's whole history.  

English Daniela Konstantinova

The audio cintains the fillowing performances of the Bon-Bon vocal group 

1.  Zebra, music and arrangement by Boris Chakarov and Konstantin Tsekov, lyrics by Zhivka Shopova

2.  Zhaba Zhaburana (Froggy Frog), music by Krassimir Miletkov, lyrics by Radoy Kirov

3.  Bon-Bon-Landia, music and lyrics by Bon-Bon, arrangement by Boris Chakarov

4.  Old Time Friend, music and arrangement by B. Chakarov, lyrics by D. Kuzmanova

5.  Lullaby

6.  Lado Le, music and arrangement by Stefan Dimitrov, lyrics by Zahari Petrov