THE AUTHOR
Martin Ivanov is one of those Bulgarians who have gained valuable experience abroad in order to devote themselves to something significant in his home country.
He is a composer, arranger, conductor, percussionist, researcher, and rhythm coach who has spent 15 years in the US and Canada. He graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Boston (Summa Cum Laude - jazz composition), the University of Memphis, and the University of Massachusetts (master's and doctoral degrees in composition). During the years 2001 - 2004, Martin Ivanov taught composition, harmony, arranging, orchestration, ear training, history of jazz, and ensembles at the University of Memphis and the University of Massachusetts. Martin Ivanov has more than 250 compositions for chamber and large orchestras in his portfolio. He has played and composed for jazz musicians and orchestras, such as Roy Hargrove, Eddie Daniels, Dave Samuels, George Garzone, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, and many others.
He was a graduate assistant to world jazz legend Yusef Lateef.
On returning to Bulgaria, he founded the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Therapy “Libera”. His primary motivation was to use his creative knowledge to create and develop social projects, therapies and to train other people.
Martin Ivanov laid the foundations for rhythm therapy and rhythm facilitation in Bulgaria. He is the creator of the programs "Rhythmology", "Art Rhythm", "Corporate Rhythm", "Happy Drum" (Rhythmology for children). Through rhythm and the expressive use of percussion instruments, he has conducted thousands of community, educational, corporate, and therapeutic events. More than 50,000 participants took part in them.
The positive vibrations of his drums attempt to respond to cries for help and address the need for social support in prisons, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, day care centers for children with disabilities, and oncology clinics.
Martin Ivanov is one of the world-renowned and respected rhythm facilitators and therapists. He is an endorsed rhythm facilitator of the world-famous American company "REMO, Inc.". He is artist of:
– REMO, Inc.
- and GEWA Music
He is one of the creators and founders of the most significant festival for personal development and a healthy lifestyle in Bulgaria - "Just Be". This festival gathers and presents specialists in personal growth, self-knowledge, and a fulfilling and healthy lifestyle.
Martin’s corporate rhythm-based trainings have proved very popular. Clients include global companies such as Microsoft, AVON, HP, Citibank, Shell, Deloitte, World Bank, Nestlé, Heineken, Carlsberg, Renault Nissan, VMWare, SAP Labs, Bayer, Siemens and Konica Minolta. Martin Ivanov is a passionate motivational speaker and he uses the language of rhythm as a tool for personal and collective development. He is the creator of programs and methods such as: "Rhythm Coaching", "Smart Walk", "Corporate Symphony of Success", "Personal and System Rhythm", "Rhythm in the Office", "Festival of Arts", and "Rhythm Clinic". Martin Ivanov is the author of the books "The Malachite Forest", "Rhythm Alchemy", "Sounds of Silence" and the therapeutic-educational game/method "RAINBOW Rhythm Cards".
He is an attractive and welcome participant at a wide range of conferences and festivals. A regular speaker at various editions of TEDx. Martin Ivanov has numerous publications/articles and appearances on television and radio programs on the subject of rhythm and its positive application in our lives.
Author’s Note
The "Malachite Forest" is the forest of my childhood and maturity. I hope it will also be the forest of my old age. There are many secrets, mysteries, and miracles in this forest. It has given and charged me with a lot of joy, energy, and creative enthusiasm. After a seventeen-year hiatus, my return to music was not planned. It happened because of the forest.
A little more than 2 years ago, I found the video production "The Malachite Forest" in my archives. It was recorded for the Bulgarian National Television program "Jazz After Midnight" in 1998. Music composed by me (played by my quartet) and dedicated to this very forest, located in the picturesque Osogovo mountain. Although I have categorically declined any invitations to return to the stage over the last 17 years, this music suggested to me what my contribution and my help to the forest could be. Naturally, the old musical material had to be refreshed with a brand-new approach and the writing of new compositions to make the musical part of the project complete. It's been 2 years since the Malachite Forest "swallowed" me and still won't let me go. It put me through countless trials, taking me through a cascade of varied emotions – joy and sadness; happiness and sorrow; tears and laughter. The project is not yet finished because it is not only about composing music and writing a book.
The "Malachite Forest" lives in my thoughts and imagination - it magnetically caresses my heart and soul and is an inseparable part of me. It is associated with the fabulous and mysterious thrills of my childhood and the mystical and philosophical longings of my future. But in order for the future of the "Malachite Forest" to be brighter and more positive, we need to help it now in the present, because it is suffering. She is sad and lonely… neglected… even dying.
As a creator, I decided that my personal contribution to helping the forest could be what I am really talented at. This is art. This is how the idea of writing a book and composing music based on it was born (or the other way around...I'm getting confused). Creation of a product of art, devoid of complexes, and unnecessary vanity, and dedicated to the HIGHER: THE NATURE. Funds will be allocated from each book/music album sold, which will be used to help distressed forest areas. Thus, we will be able to turn music and words into living trees. And also, to plant in ourselves the seed of a more meaningful and worthwhile life.
The process of creating the work was extremely interesting… I would even say alchemical. As I already mentioned, a part of the music (40%) was written more than 22 years ago. The old material had to be arranged and the new material composed. In the process of writing the story and music, everything happened very dynamically. Throughout all this time, the text and the music were chasing each other, catching up, passing each other, until finally, they ended up together in sync. In my mind, the story of the lost man in the forest and his trials was very vague. I was trying to explain the story to my quartet colleagues, but somehow it wasn't working very well. I began to think that it would be more successful if I wrote this story in meaningful words. In this way, it would be easier for them to interpret it using the expressive means of music. But there was no inspiration. It came magically and unexpectedly. I saw an old friend who had a major contribution to the recording of "The Malachite Forest" video project for the "Jazz After Midnight" program in 1998. We hadn't seen each other since. I welded it into a crushing personal tragedy. The condition and hopelessness he was in touched me to the core of my soul. He actually became the prototype of the main character in the parable "The Malachite Forest". Writing the text, I thought about him and through what I wrote I hoped to help him. He is the desperate-for-life protagonist who loses the ability to see colors and the world for him is black and white.
This affliction often befalls many of us. We often get lost in the challenges and problems that life throws at us and the colors disappear. This is what happens when we stop enjoying the small and supposedly insignificant things in life.
The three sequoias of the "Malachite Forest" become three wise men who ask significant questions to the main character. One of the questions is: “What is the most meaningful thing for a man in this world?” If you can successfully answer this question, I guarantee that your life will become more colorful.
Many people ask me, "Why does the portal to the Malachite Forest open every 27 years?"
The “Malachite Forest" is a literary and artistic sequel to my first book, "The Alchemy of Rhythm: In Search of the Philosopher's Stone." In it, the numbers 3, 9, 13, and 27 are extremely significant. In "The Alchemy of Rhythm" they are seriously analyzed, while in "The Malachite Forest" they are presented more delicately.
And finally... on May 27 I finished the book, and on June 27 we entered the studio to record the album. In 1995 I released my last official album in Bulgaria. Its name is "State Of Mind”. This year marks 27 years since that moment, and the portal to the "Malachite Forest" is once again open for miracles.
The book/album "The Malachite Forest" will be published on October 31, 2022.
And what will happen when the portal reopens in 2049 after the next 27 years?
It is my wish that everyone who has come this far and has read these words will have the opportunity to experience and face together this mystical challenge in the years to come.
Martin Ivanov
Sofia, Bulgaria, 2022