'Va i Ve'
pronounced 'Va ee Veh' (‘i’ is pronounced as 'ee' in Bulgarian/Russian and means 'and'!)
– and comes from the first 2 letters of each of their names.
Valentina Seferinova and Venera Bojkova
Va i Ve - The lives of Valentina Seferinova and Venera Bojkova have been entwined for quite some time; in fact since they were children. Both are piano performance and theory graduates of the same National Academy of Music, Sofia; both studied with Bulgaria’s foremost piano professor, Dr. Professor Lubomir Dinolov.
Their careers as soloists and Chamber Music performers developed early, and as a piano duet their first performances together were as students. The programmes often comprised their Professor’s successful transcriptions of popular works.
Fate has continued to entwine their lives by decreeing that both, quite independently, should now be settled in the UK.
Both still follow separate solo careers, but you can imagine the sheer fun for them both to also perform as a duet again.
In the autumn of 1999 they made their first tour in UK as a duet. Their programme included Slavic music by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Dvořák and was presented in Portsmouth, Bognor Regis, London, and Durham.
During 2000 they were together again on tour - featuring a programme of British, Bulgarian, and Russian composers - a main stay of their repertoire. They also attended Master Classes with Prof. Bernard Roberts at H.I.S.S., UK.
In December 2001 they appeared at the National Palace of Culture, Sofia in front of their life time mentor, Prof. Dr. Lubomir Dinolov and other peers; their programme of Rachmaninov (Suite for Two Pianos Opus 17), Benjamin Britten (Opus 23 Nos. 1 and 2 - Introduction and Rondo alla Burlesca, and Mazurka Elegiaca), Ferencz Liszt (Variations on a Theme of Paganini - arranged by Dinolov), and a short piece by Pancho Vladigerov (Horo Staccato) was received with acclaim.
A subsequent studio recording of this programme is now available on CD (see 'CD Recordings' and 'CD Reviews' pages of this web site).
In September 2009 they were invited to perform an open recital for the International Rachmaninoff Society's A.G.M. in Manchester, U.K.
More recently they have performed a full evening’s concert at the Regis Recital Hall; and also appeared at Newcastle University (Dec. 2010). |