Cities on the hills: Jazz, photo exhibition bring allure of Plovdiv to Amman

AMMAN — EUNIC Jordan, in partnership with the Bulgarian Embassy to Jordan and the Greater Amman Municipality, on Thursday organised a jazz concert at Al Hussein Cultural Centre to celebrate the selection of the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv as a European Capital of Culture.

The evening of celebration also included a photo exhibition, a short movie and a reception. The event was attended by HRH Prince Faisal Bin Raad, Bulgarian Ambassador to Jordan Dimitar Mihaylov and EU Ambassador to Jordan Maria Hadjitheodosiou.

The EU designates two cities annually to hold the title of European Capital of Culture, and Plovdiv, alongside the Italian city of Matera, were honoured with the title this year. 

The title is a “great opportunity for the cities to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits”, the Delegation of the EU to Jordan wrote on its website, adding that Plovdiv is the “oldest city in Bulgaria and the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe”, with prehistoric settlements dating back over 8,000 years.

“This is an important event,” said Mihaylov in an interview with The Jordan Times, noting that the event “creates bridges to the friendly people of Jordan” and is a “combination of sound, vision and taste”.

Like Amman, Plovdiv is a city on the hills, and the exhibition displayed photographs of both cities, the ambassador said.

“We invited a Jazz-Folk band to perform authentic Bulgarian and Balkan folk motifs arranged as modern Jazz,” the ambassador added.

The band “Y Jazz” is a trio of “young, vibrant and enthusiastic musicians living in Bulgaria, combining authentic jazz with Balkan and folk music”, according to the organisers. The band members are trumpet player Martin Bodurov, pianist Svetoslav Milanov and bass guitarist Daniele Febbo.

“The Bulgarian jazz scene is growing again in the last 20 years, because before, jazz was forbidden in our country,” band member Bodurov told The Jordan Times, noting that group's repertoire includes compositions of the "greatest Bulgarian composers" as well as original compositions of the band's pianist.

“It doesn’t matter where you are from, music is about humanity,” he added.