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Bulgarian Center Shopping Night at Ten Thousand Villages -
Monday, December 3 - 6:00 to 8:00 pm
The Bulgarian Center was chosen by Ten Thousand Villages to participate in the store’s Holiday Shopping Night program, which entitled the Center to receive 15% of all net sales made in the store that evening. Learn more »
Bulgarian Treasures Fall Concert - Saturday, November 17, 2007 - 7:00 pm
Our Otets Paissii Folk Ensemble presented its eleventh annual music and dance program at the Carnegie Library Music Hall in Homestead. Learn more »
FiberArts Guild Exhibit - April 10 through September 1, 2007 at Bulgarian Center
The Center exhibited traditional Bulgarian textiles as part of Fiberart International 2007, a series of exhibitions sponsored by the FiberArts Guild of Pittsburgh, Inc. The Center showcased wall hangings and traditional clothing, such as costumes, aprons, socks and embroidered items. Learn more »
Bulgarian Center serves as role model for proposed cultural centers
Representatives from the Bulgarian Center in Chicago, led by Dimitar Petkov, recently visited the BMNECC to learn how the Center got started and how it currently operates. Mr. Petkov and his colleagues would like to create a similar Bulgarian Cultural Center in Chicago. This is the third group to visit the BMNECC to obtain ideas for creating cultural centers of their own. One group hailed from New York, while another traveled all the way from Dundee, Scotland, to partake of our experience.
New book to include BMNECC
Author Daniel J. Burns is writing his fourth book, this one titled "Homestead and the Steel Valley," which examines the history of this world-famous industrial area and the changes that have taken place through the years. The book will include information on the West Homstead Baking Company, which was owned and operated by members of the Bulgarian community. The book will also mention the Bulgaro-Macedonian Beneficial Association (BMBA) basketball team of the early 1930s, and will include a view of the upgraded facade of the Bulgarian Center. Click here for more information on this upcoming book.
Learn about Bulgarian Opera
Bulgaria has produced some of the world's finest opera singers and was once home to ten opera companies. The Bulgarian Center helped sponsor Opera from Bulgaria - an Audio Encyclopedia Project, conceived and produced by Frank Fischer. The volumes on Bulgarian opera represent the most extensive coverage to date of a single culture's involvement in opera. For more information, visit Opera from Bulgaria - Audio Encyclopedia Project.
51st Annual Pittsburgh Folk Festival - May 25 through 27, 2007
Hundred of visitors to this year's festival sampled our cuisine, purchased Bulgarian gift items, and enjoyed our performances.
Learn more »
Soup! Sega Featured at Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show - March 10, 2007
Soup Sega! Chef Angèl Roy, along with BMNECC President Patricia Penka French, offered a cooking demonstration at the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. At the invitation of Chris Fenimore, Chief of Culinary Arts at WQED-TV, the two cooks prepared and baked Bulgarian banitza and served this treat to a large appreciative crowd of onlookers.
Bulgarian Center Dedicates Nick and Agnes Markoff Social Hall - Saturday, January 20, 2007
The Center's historic social hall was officially dedicated as The Nick and Agnes Markoff Social Hall at a January 20 ceremony at the Center. Learn more »
Bulgarian Artists' Recital - Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:45 pm
The Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon hosted Bulgarian organist Sabin Levi and Bulgarian baritone Joseph Pilov in a recital of works by Bach, Brahms, Soler, and De Grigny, as well as music composed by Mr. Levi.
Faces of Bulgaria Photo Exhibit - Fall 2006
The Bulgarian Center proudly sponsored an exhibit of photographs taken by Kamen Bonev in Koprivshtitsa, Bulgaria, during the 2005 national folklore festival. Learn more »
Images of Bulgaria - Otets Paissii Folk Ensemble Program - November 18, 2006, Carnegie Library Music Hall in Homestead
The Folk Ensemble’s tenth annual program highlighted the customs and traditions of the Bulgarian and Macedonian people through music, singing and dance. Learn more »
Open House '06
The Center opened the fall/winter ’06 season with an Open House on September 8, 2006. The event was hosted by Her Excellency, Elena Poptodorova, Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the United States. The Ambassador stressed the ongoing cooperation of Bulgarian and the U.S. businesses.
Tours
Dozens of groups - from participants in Elderhostel and National Trust tour programs, to public school teachers and visiting ethnomusicologists - visited the Center in fall ’06 to enjoy a Bulgarian lunch, tour the museum and library, purchase souvenirs and learn about the role of the Center in the history of Pittsburgh.
StoryCorps Project
Board President Patricia Penka French was interviewed by her granddaughter, Eileen French, for a StoryCorps program detailing her experience growing up in the steel valley as the daughter of Bulgarian immigrants. StoryCorps, a project aimed at fostering the art of oral history storytelling, is a collaborative effort among Sound Portraits Productions, the Library of Congress, and public radio stations across the country.
Grants
In 2006, the Cultural Center received a $12,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments to support cultural arts programming, specifically the Folk Ensemble’s creation of its Images of a Bulgarian Wedding performance. The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts presented a $4,400 grant, and the Allegheny Regional Asset District provided a $3,500 grant for general operating support in the area of continuing cultural arts. The Steel Industry Heritage Corporation presented the Cultural Center with a $15,000 grant to support preservation and restoration efforts.
Capital Campaign
The BMNECC Board of Directors has initiated a three-year capital campaign with a goal of $1.5 million, which began on January 1, 2006. This campaign is raising funds to support the Center’s physical expansion and improvements.
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