Trombone Attraction
The quartet plays music from various genres - from baroque, classical arrangements, jazz and popular music to original compositions of contemporary music. Trombone Attraction succeeded in bringing the previously underrated trombone into the classical concert hall, inspiring and exciting the entire audience. Together with the music educator Berenike Heidecker-Nusser, Trombone Attraction also creates programs for children, in which the musicians themselves are included. The evening programs contain dramatic elements and comedic moments developed together with the choreographer and director Ferdinando Cefalo.
Albena Danailova, violin
Albena Danailova was born in Sofia to the violinist Boyan Danailov and the pianist Violeta Popova. She is the first woman to become concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, known for its conservatism. Since 2011, she has been the leader of "Ensemble Wien" (as successor to Paul Gugenberger and Rainer Honeck). Danailova is also a professor of violin at the Vienna State University. Plays a violin given to her by the Austrian National Bank.
Alexander Somov, cello
Alexander Somov studied in the cello class of Stefan Runevski at the National Music School "L. Pipkov". In 2006, he became super soloist of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been invited as guest principal of the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Halle and the English Chamber Orchestra. He is a professor at the Conservatory and Higher Academy in Strasbourg. He enjoys combining styles and expanding musical horizons, whether playing with fellow co-founders of the Robertsau Buskers, in concert with the Salonorkester Baden-Baden, or playing guitar, bulgarian fiddle (gadulka) or percussion in his spare time.
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Oleksiy Shadrin, cello
Оleksiy Shadrin was born in 1993 in Kharkiv in a family of musicians. At the age of seven, he entered the Kharkiv Specialized Music School in the class of Professor Olena Shtelkanovtseva. In 2010, he entered the Higher School of Music and Theater in Hanover in the class of Prof. Leonid Gorokhov. In 2012, he received first prize at the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition in Kyiv. In 2018, he received third prize at the Prague Spring competition, and in 2022 he won fourth place at the famous "Queen Elizabeth" International Competition - Brussels. He is currently studying with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy. As of September 2020, he is also artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where he studies with Gary Hoffman.
Vesselin Vesselinov - EKO, doble bass quitar
Veselin Veselinov – Eko is a bassist, contrabassist and composer. He was born in Sofia and started playing the bass guitar as a teenager. He is the winner of the "Crystal Lyre" award for jazz, as well as the "Bassist of the Year" of BG Radio. He co-founded and participated in various formations and musical projects and managed to establish himself as a sought-after studio performer. Accompanies the most popular stars of the local music scene, makes theater and film music, TV and radio broadcasts. In recent years, EKO has added another project to his career - chamber duo "Das Weltschmerz DueTT" with pianist Milen Kukosharov, with whom he improvises on themes outside the standard jazz repertoire.
Violeta Radomirska, mezzosoprano
Violeta Radomirska was born in Sofia, where since childhood she has performed many concerts as a member of the Children's Radio Choir. He completed his musical education at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov", and in 2004 he became part of the troupe of the Opera in Biel (Switzerland), where he performed many central mezzo-soprano roles. In recent seasons, she performed on the stage of the Sofia Opera as Carmen, Amneris from "Aida" and Eboli from "Don Carlos" by Verdi, Olga from "Eugene Onegin" and many others. She makes joint performances with the Sofia Philharmonic, the Pleven Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, etc.
Georgi Dimitrov
Conductor Georgi Dimitrov is among the world-renowned and most loved Bulgarian conductors. An exceptional professional who has worked with all Bulgarian orchestras, as well as with those in Russia, Romania, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland. He inspires respect at the desk, and although he is very demanding and critical, the orchestra players love and appreciate him, and the audience looks forward to his next performance. In 2022, the conductor was awarded the National Award "Acad. Marin Goleminov" for his remarkable creative biography and half a century of experience in the field of symphonic, operatic and cantata-oratorio music.
Gergana Nestorova, piano
Gergana Nestorova's creative path as a musician began at the local school in her hometown Nessebar. Her concert performances include solo recitals, chamber ensembles and performances with orchestras such as Mozart Virtuoso Festival Orchestra - Tokyo, Sofia Philharmonic, Burgas Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra - Pazardzhik, "Symfonieta" Vidin, Shumen Philharmonic and Razgrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Nestorova is a full-time assistant at the Piano Department in the Instrumental Faculty at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" and a piano teacher at the National Music School "Lyubomir Pipkov" in Sofia.
Giorgi Gigashvili, piano
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2000, Georgi Gigashvili studied piano without ever thinking of a professional career as a pianist. Today, he has won dozens of awards from renowned competitions, studied under the famous pedagogue Nelson Goerner in Geneva and has become a music ambassador supported by the Lisa Batiashvili Foundation, the Geza Anda Foundation, Bayer Kultur's stARTacademy. Parallel to his classical pianist career, he created a group for electronic and experimental music with his friends called Tsduneba, which means "temptation" in Georgian.
Deyan Vachkov, bass
Deyan Vachkov graduated from the Pancho Vladigerov Academy of Music in the singing class of Prof. Karapetrov and Prof. Nedyalkov. His debut in Vienna in the role of Don Basilio from Rossini's The Barber of Seville impressed the discerning public and determined his success on the most prestigious opera stages. His debut in Bulgaria was on the Varna stage with the roles of Zakaria from "Nabucco", Ramfis from "Aida", Philip from "Don Carlos" by Verdi, Don Giovanni in "Don Giovanni" by Mozart, Don Pasquale from "Don Pasquale" by Donizetti and others. In 2018, he participated in the Beijing premiere of "Tais" by Massenet, in which Placido Domingo played the main role, responded to the invitation of the Bolshoi Theater for "Ball with Masks" by Verdi, and on the Varna stage he made his debut in the role of Oroveso from Bellini's Norma.
Dimitar Kosev
Dimitar Kosev was born in Ruse, where he graduated from the National School of Arts "Prof. Veselin Stoyanov". Immediately after that, he specialized in conducting and piano in Vienna, and immediately after graduation he became the youngest conductor in Bulgaria - a role that brings great recognition, but also great responsibility. The prizes he has won are countless. He is the winner of the JCI award - "The most prominent young personalities of Bulgaria" in the category "Cultural achievement", he was awarded the Golden Badge "Ruse" and was chosen as the cultural ambassador of the city. He is the winner of the "Golden Feather" award for his contribution to Bulgarian culture and art.
Ruse State Opera
Today, the Ruse State Opera is one of the first-class opera houses in Bulgaria. The rich creative potential of the individual ensembles - orchestra, choir, ballet and soloists, as well as the long-term cooperation with the most famous names on the national stage, have in a short time built the Ruse Opera as one of the leading opera houses in Bulgaria. The history and development of one of the oldest opera stages in Bulgaria is connected with all the big names in the history of Bulgarian musical culture, such as Konstantin Iliev, Romeo Raichev, Ruslan Raichev, E. Nemirov, as well as with artists of the class of N. Zdravkov, P. Marinova, K. Krastev, I. Dimov, S. Yakimova, A. Angelova, M. Ventslavova and A. Anastasov, S. Evstatieva, as well as the younger ones such as Orlin Anastasov, Martin Tsonev, Mariana Tsvetkova, Ventslav Anastasov and many other.
Elena Rozanova, piano
Elena Rozanova was born in Odessa, Ukraine. Both her parents were musicians. She first studied at the Gnessine School and was then admitted at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Her repertoire goes from baroque to contemporary music. She has performed many new creations. She is artistic director of the festival “Les Classiques au Val d’Isère”.
Emanuil Ivanov, piano
Emmanuel Ivanov caught the attention of the international music community after receiving first prize at the 62nd edition of the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy. The success of the 20-year-old musician has been followed by concert engagements in some of the most prestigious halls in the world. Emanuil Ivanov is the winner of prizes from prestigious international competitions such as "Alessandro Casagrande", "Scriabin-Rachmaninov", "Liszt-Bartok", "Young Virtuosos", "Dinu Lipati", the "Crystal Lyre" and "Young Musician of the Year" awards ", as well as prestigious awards in Great Britain such as "Musicians' Company Silver Medal" and "Carnwath Piano Scholarship". He is currently a full scholarship student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under Pascal Nemirowski and Anthony Hewitt.
Emil Tabakov
Emil Tabakov is among today's leading Bulgarian conductors and composers, an author of symphonic, vocal-symphonic and chamber music, an artist with world fame and a special contribution to the development of national musical culture. As one of the great ambassadors of Bulgarian culture in the world, he toured alone and with the orchestras he leads in Europe, USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, etc. His distinguished international career has been associated with orchestras such as the Orchester National de France, the Orchestra de France Radio, the Orchestra of the Moscow Radio, the New Russia Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonie J. Enescu, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Ankara Presidential Orchestra, etc. In 2021, he received the most prestigious award from the Ministry of Culture - the Golden Age Award with a necklace. Since July 2021, he has been Honorary Conductor of the State Opera - Ruse.
Yeoul Eum Son
Yеol Eum Son was born in Wonju, South Korea in 1986. She received her first piano lessons at the age of three and a half. Much in demand as a recitalist, concert soloist and chamber musician, Yoram Son has won critical acclaim for the profound insights and intelligence of her interpretations. She is driven above all by her natural curiosity to explore multiple musical genres and styles and a desire to reveal what she describes as the "pure essence" of everything she performs. In the last decade Yoram Son has achieved worldwide recognition, not least with his interpretations of Mozart's piano concertos. The video of her performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No.21 at the International Tchaikovsky Competition has been viewed almost 23 million times, which is believed to be a record number for any live Mozart work on the platform.
Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra
The Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble was founded in 1962. Since then, more than 3,000 concerts have been performed all over the world. Three conductors shape the sound of the ensemble: Vasil Kazandzhiev, Emil Tabakov and Plamen Dzhurov, who was the conductor of the ensemble from 1988 to 2022. The ensemble plays in the most prestigious halls - Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Albert Hall and Barbican Center in London, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Gavo Hall in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Sydney Opera House, Suntory Hall, etc. Participates in international festivals in Europe and America. He works with artists of the class of H. Schering, H. Holiger, D. Shafran, N. Zabaletta, P. Gallois, N. Kennedy and others. From 2022, the conductor is maestro Konstantin Dobroykov.
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Quatuor Danel
The Quatuor Danel has been at the forefront of the European music scene for decades with their bold, vibrant, and concentrated performance style, and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022. The Danel is known for its deeply personal interpretations of the string quartet cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Weinberg, and its lively and fresh vision of traditional quartet repertoire has won the Danel lavish praise from both the public and the press. Uniquely among string quartets, the Danel has worked closely with both Valentin Berlinsky from the Borodin Quartet as well as Irina Shostakovich to refine the deeply personal interpretations of Russian music for which the Quartet is revered in Europe. The Danel’s long personal relationship and exceptionally close work with Dmitri Shostakovich’s widow Irina informed these performances in a specific and profoundly personal way, offering a very rarely accessed glimpse into Shostakovich’s genius.
Konstantin Dobroykov
Konstantin Dobroykov is the chief conductor and artistic director of the Sofia Soloists chamber ensemble. In 2010 received a master's degree in orchestral conducting from the University of North Carolina: School of the Arts. In the period 2013–2022 he is a conductor and part of the management team of the State Opera in Plovdiv. Konstantin Dobroykov also works with the Radio-Symphonic Orchestra of Slovakia, Bratislava, as well as with Slovakia's leading chamber ensemble, Sinfonieta Bratislava. Since 2022 Konstantin Dobroykov is the chief conductor and artistic director of the Sofia Soloists chamber ensemble.
Milen Bozhkov, tenor
Milen Bozhkov graduated from the Music Academy "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov"-Sofia and specialized in opera art at the University of Music - Graz, Austria under Prof. Joanna Borovska. He perfected his singing technique under Krassimira Stoyanova, and his first engagements were at the National Opera in Sofia under the direction of acad. Plamen Kartalov. After the accumulated experience, the doors of the Graz Opera opened for him. Performances in Japan, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Latvia and Bulgaria followed. In 2024, the tenor will make his debut in the role of Verdi's Otello in the play of the same name, presented by the Staro Zagora Opera and featuring the stars Krasimira Stoyanova and Zelko Lucic.
Milen Kukosharov, piano
Famous for his virtuoso improvisations, Milen Kukosharov is one of the most sought-after and best-known performers in Bulgaria. He is the arranger of the solo concerts of established Bulgarian artists. Together with Veselin Veselinov - Eko (double bass) he is a member of the chamber duo "Das Weltschmerz DueTT". In recent years, Milen Kukosharov has expanded his professional interests as a composer in the field of classical music, theater and cinema. His works have won numerous awards through the years and he continues to work over different theater and film projects.
Mincho Minchev, violin
Mincho Minchev's art is valued with superlatives on four continents. He has played as a soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC London Orchestra, London Mozart Players, and more. He has worked with world-renowned conductors such as Sir C. Groves, Sir N. Marriner, L. Slatkin, J. E. Gardiner. He has made many recordings at home and abroad, including for such labels as DECCA, Balkanton, Capriccio, Integral, as well as for West German Radio (WDR), Radio Geneva, Radio Sofia, BNT, Bucharest, and Belgrade Radio and Television. He has also judged a number of prestigious international competitions. He has judged prestigious international competitions, including Carl Flash (Great Britain), Rudolf Lipitzer (Italy), Ifra Niemann (Germany), Beethoven (Czech Republic), Jugend Musiziert (Germany), and others. Since 1993 he has been chairman of the Pancho Vladigerov Foundation and Chairman of the Violin Jury of the P. Vladigerov International Competition in Shumen.
Нadezhda Vlaeva, piano
Nadezhda Vlaeva is a laureate of international awards and has performed in Europe, North America and Asia, including on the world stages of Carnegie Zankel Hall, Rose Hall in Lincoln Center in New York, Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Nadezhda was awarded Musician of the Year 2021 by the Bulgarian National Radio. She is an artist on the British record label Hyperion Records and is the first to record the complete collection of Bach/Saint-Saëns piano transcriptions, named by BBC Music Magazine as a "positively stunning" CD of the month. He also devotes some of his time to composing, the fruit of which are several original pieces and arrangements that are in the process of being published by Contemporary Composers Circle in Colorado.
Nikolay Minchev, violin
Nikolay Minchev graduated from the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen (Germany), in the classes of Nana Yashvili and Mincho Minchev. In the period 2001–2003 he was first concertmaster of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Essen, and from 2003 he was concertmaster of the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra. He is currently performing as a soloist of the "Sofia Soloists" ensemble together with his father - Mincho Minchev.
Radostina Nikolaeva, sopran
For over 20 years now, Radostina Nikolaeva has been a leading soprano at the Sofia Opera and Ballet, where she plays central roles in operas by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Wagner. She was born in Ruse, where she graduated from the "Prof. Veselin Styanov" National University of Music, and then the "Pancho Vladigerov" National Academy of Music in Sofia in the class of Prof. Irena Brambarova. The opera prima has many honors in her biography, including awards from the national competition "Prof. Hristo Brambarov" (2001), the International Competition for Young Opera Singers "Boris Hristov" (2004), the International Competition "Ottavio Ziino" (2005). She won both of the highest awards - First Prize and Audience Award at the international competition "Premio Spiros Argiris 9 Concorso Internazionale per Giovani Cantanti Lirici" (2008). For the role of Amelia in "Ball with Masks" she was awarded the Crystal Lyre Award in 2009.
Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra
The Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1948 by the famous Bulgarian conductor and composer Konstantin Iliev. The orchestra realized many tours in Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Romania, Spain, and France and has recordings in BNR, BNT, and Berlin Radio. It has released also a series of CDs for Forlan - France and Vienna Modern Masters - Austria. In 1961 the orchestra founded the MF "March Music Days", and the first in Bulgaria Philharmonic Festival "Winter Music Evenings". The orchestra participates in the international festivals "March Music Days", "Sofia Music Weeks", "Varna Summer", as well as in such major international forums as the Berlin Music Festival and "Siena Music Weeks", where it collaborates with F. Ferrara, K. M. Giulini, G. Rozhdestvensky, K. Richarelli, B. Belkin, Y. Bashmet, and others.
Signum saxophone quartet
The four musicians Blaze Kemperle, Jacopo Taddei, Alan Lujar and Guerino Bellarosa meet in Cologne, where they founded the saxophone quartet SIGNUM in 2006. They are in a break in search of new ideas, challenges and intriguing artistic encounters. The quartet has performed in a number of prestigious venues such as the Barbican Center in London, Konzerthaus Vienna, Konzertgebau Amsterdam, Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, Gulbenkian Lisbon, Festival Palace in Baden-Baden, Philharmonie in Luxembourg, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Philharmonie in Cologne and etc. In 2016, SIGNUM received the "Best Ensemble" award from the prestigious German festival Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern.
Svetlin Roussev, violin
The charismatic violinist Svetlin Rusev enjoys a brilliant international career in many of the big concert halls around the world. He performs under the baton of famous conductors and shares his devotion to music with his numerous fans around the world, both as a soloist and as a remarkable chamber musician. His intense concert activity takes him all over the world - Europe, the USA, Latin America, and Asia. He is a regular guest soloist in orchestras of the highest class, such as the National Orchestra of France, the French Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Romanesque Switzerland, Belgian National Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic.
Svilen Dimitrov
As one of the famous Ruse choir conductors and as a leader of the eminent Ruse choir "Prof. V. Arnaudov" from 2015/2016, Svilen Dimitrov has significant merits for the development of musical life in Ruse. Graduated from NMA in Sofia with the specialties choral and orchestra conducting, he returned to Ruse as a teacher at the Ruse National School of Arts.
Under his conducting the choir V. Arnaudov regularly participates in the program of "March Music Days" International Festival and performs a number of very successful concerts and projects, including "Orpheus and Eurydice" by Christoph Willibald Gluck, "Gloria" by Antonio Vivaldi, "Magnificat" by John Ruther.
Sofia Philharmonic
The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra has long established itself as one of the leading institutes in the musical life of Bulgaria. Beginning more than half a century ago, It has successfully performed in the largest music centers in Europe, Asia, America, greeted by the most demanding audience with loud acclamations. The recording activity of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra related to the companies "Balkanton", "Gega", "Naxos", "Supraphon", "Elan", "Frekvenz", "Koch", "Mega", "Capriccio", as well as recordings in Radio Paris, Radio Berlin, Radio Moscow, Radio Munich, the BNR and BNT.
"Frosch" String Quartet
One of the most famous Bulgarian string quartets begins its concert activity with participation in the Bulgarian National Radio series "The Radio Soloists". The ensamble is a regular participant in major national and international festivals in the country and abroad. It is a winner of the Second Prize of the International Competition for Austrian Music in Sofia. The quartet played in the Oslo concert hall and made dozens of Bulgarian and world premieres of music by J. Krumb, O. Golikhov, St. Reich, T. Reilly, V. Kazandzhiev, L. Denev, R. Balozov, Dr. Yosifov and others. The quartet is the winner of the "Crystal Lyre" award of the Union of Music and Dance Actors in Bulgaria. He also won First Prize at the Academic Competition for Chamber Music, dedicated to the composer Marin Goleminov. In 2017, "Frosh" performed the opening concert of the program of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Moscow and the Tchaikovsky Museum. In the period January-June 2018, the quartet participated in the project of the Sofia Philharmonic "Music of Europe" with two concerts dedicated to the Czech Republic and Great Britain.
Trio Abstrakt
In 2016 Salim(a) Javad (saxophone), Shiau-Shiuan Hng (percussion) and Marlis Debaker created the contemporary music ensemble - Trio "Abstrakt". The combination of instruments, equally reminiscent of a chamber ensemble and a free jazz combo, allows the musicians to draw from a rich arsenal of sounds and means of expression. The ensemble plays at important contemporary music festivals and institutions such as NOW! Essen Philharmonic Festival, Venice Art Biennale, Bremen Contemporary Music Biennale, Impulse Academy/Festival Graz, Mozartfest Würzburg, Center for Culture and Media Karlsruhe, Conference of the International Association of Music Centers in Munich in 2022. The trio is currently supported by the Deutscher Musikrat's InSZene (Contemporary Music Interpreters Scholarship) program as well as Ensembleförderung NRW.
Ruse Festival Orchestra
The Ruse Festival Orchestra is a unique project, carrying in itself the deep and lasting connections between different generations of musicians from all over the world, who made their first professional steps at the National School of Arts Prof. Veselin Stoyanov - Ruse. Established in 2010 for the 50th anniversary of the school on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of March Music Days I.F., the Festival Orchestra makes its first successful program within the festival with the participation of world-famous Bulgarian musicians - graduates of the school, Emil Tabakov, Svetlin Roussev, and piano duo Aglika Genova & Lyuben Dimitrov. 2021 will be memorable in the history of the orchestra with the participation of the world-famous opera prima Krassimira Stoyanova with "Four Last Songs" by R. Strauss and with the world premiere of the Violin concerto by Maestro Emil Tabakov, dedicated to the festival and its first performers - The Ruse Festival Orchestra and the great Bulgarian violinist Svetlin Roussev.
"Prof. Vasil Arnaudov" Mixed Choir – Ruse
Founded in 1993, the Ruse Choir Prof. Vasil Arnaudov fulfills invariably its mission to preserve and develop the choral tradition, created by the great Bulgarian conductor and pedagogue Prof. Vasil Arnaudov. Dragomir Yosifov has been the artistic director and conductor of the choir since its founding until 2015. The choir has won two gold medals and the Grand Prize at the Third International Choir Competition in Polheim, Germany. In 2002 it wins the First Prize of the International Choral Competition Dragan Shuplevski - Skopje, Macedonia, and in 2004 it received the Grand Prix of the Choral Competition in Nis, Yugoslavia. From the 2015/16 season, the conductor of the choir is Svilen Dimitrov. Other significant works in the repertoire of the choir are Orpheus and Eurydice of Kr. W. Gluck, Gloria by A. Vivaldi, Magnificat by John Ruther. In 2024, the choir will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a special program within the "March Music Days".