November 12, 2020 /Thursday/  

18.30 hours      Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov

                                                Conductor: Grigor Palikarov                                             

 Soloist: Theodosii Spassov  – kaval

 Program:

Theodosii Spassov – Concerto for kaval and string orchestra, „Something wonderful“, „ Open mood“

L. van Beethoven – Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 “Pastorale”

Grigor Palikarov (born in 1971 in Plovdiv) graduated the National School of Music and Dance Art “Dobrin Petkov” – Plovdiv with the specialty of piano with excellent grades and golden badge award in 1990 and then he graduated the Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” in Sofia with Master’s degrees in four majors: Opera and Symphony Conducting under Acad. V. Kazandzhiev and Prov. Iv. Vulpe; Composition under Prof. D. Tapkov, Piano – under Prof. Kr. Taskov and Choir Conducting under Prof. St. Kralev. He specialized in Composition within two summer courses in Austria with Prof. Erich Urbaner from Vienna University of Musical and Performing Arts.

His debut at the opera stage was when he was still a student (at the age of 22) and conducted Rigoletto in the opera theatres in Pleven and Stara Zagora.

His professional career as a conductor began in the Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian Army Ensemble (1995 – 1997) and from 1997 to 1999 he was Chief Conductor of the Ensemble. In the meantime, he also took the position of conductor and chief artistic director of the renowned Youth Philharmonic “Pioneer” (1998 – 2003). His debut at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre – Sofia was in 1998 when he conducted a Gala Concerto of Gena Dimitrova by her personal request. Since 2001 he was appointed fulltime conductor of the opera and currently his repertoire includes more than 55 opera and ballet works. Since season 2005-2006 Grigor Palikarov is also the Chief Artistic Director and Conductor of the Symphonic-Opera Society at the National Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” – Sofia.

At present, Grigor Palikarov is a frequent visiting conductor of a number of orchestras and opera theatres among which are: Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, Classic FM Orchestra – Sofia, of which he is also a permanent conductor since season 2008-2009, Sofia Philharmonic, Festival Orchestra – Sofia, the national Operas in Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Ruse and Stara Zagora, the Pleven Philharmonic, etc. A special place among his multiple conducting performances is occupied by the numerous studio records of various works with the Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, along with his participations in prestigious national and international music festivals such as Sofia Music Weeks, March Music Days, Laureate Days “Katya Popova” – Pleven, Austrian Music Weeks, New Bulgarian Music, Winter Music Evenings – Pazardzhik, Opera and Ballet Festival – Varna, Contemporary Music Festival – Pula, Croatia, May Opera Nights – Skopje, Macedonia, Dyuni Festival – Matera, Italy, etc. In October 2014, Grigor Palikarov had two concertos with the orchestra of Classic FM Radio at the prestigious Alte Oper (Frankfurt am Mein) from the programme of the festival of European Culture Days organized by the European Central Bank.

Grigor Palikarov regularly performs abroad in countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, Russia, the USA, Slovenia, Greece, Poland, the Ukraine,  Taiwan, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Portugal, Mexico, Korea, Japan, Uruguay, etc. He has conducted the Royal Belgian Philharmonic – Brussels, the national Opera and Ballet – Ljubljana, Vienna Chamber Ensemble “New Tone”, Century Symphonic Orchestra – Taipei,   Cleveland Opera – the USA where his debut was marked as one of the most important music events for 2009 in the state of Ohio, the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet – Russia, Yanacek Philharmonic – Czech Republic, Czestohowa Philharmonic and Varmino-Masuric Philharmonic – Poland, Symphonic Orchestra – Bari, national Orchestra (SODRE) and the National Choir of Uruguay, Magna Grecia Orchestra – Italy, Dnepropetrovsk Philharmonic, Yucatan Symphonic Orchestra and Monterey Symphonic Orchestra – Mexico, Thessaloniki Symphonic Orchestra, and many others.

Along with his activity as a conductor, Grigor Palikarov composes, performs in concerto playing the piano and teaches at the National Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” where he successfully pursued his Ph.D. degree in Music Studies and Music Art in 2017. Some of his works are being performed at a number of festivals and have been recorded many times. He has won many national and international awards for his successful performance as a composer and pianist at the competitions “Svetosalv Obretenov”, “Albert Roussel”, The Music of the Earth, etc. Three-time laureate of the prestigious award Crystal Lyre of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers – 2002, 2012, and 2017, as well as of the ward the Golden Feather.

Within two mandates, Grigor Palikarov has been the Chair of Mensa-Bulgaria –  the branch of the worldwide organization of people with high IQ.

Theodosii Spassov

Theodosii Spassov (born 4 March 1961) is a Bulgarian jazz musician who plays kaval. Theodosii Spassov began his early training on the kaval at the Kotel Music School and The Academy of Music and Dance in Plovdiv/Bulgaria. The kaval, an eight-hole wooden „shepherd“ flute, is one of the oldest Instruments in Europe, rich in tone and technical possibilities. Theodosii Spassov has developed his own unique style of playing the instrument by synthesizing traditional folklore with jazz, fusion and classical music.

For over 20 years, Theodosii has toured all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and United States. In 1994, he performed with Sofia Women’s Radio Choir which was awarded with a Grammy award for „Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares“. In April 1995, „Newsweek“ magazine recognized Theodosii Spassov as one of the most talented Eastern-European musicians in its „best of the East“ article, noting that „Spassov… is not merely surviving the post-communist cultural wasteland. He has actually invented a new musical genre.“

Theodosii Spassov has contributed to 20 CDs, four of his own, which have been noted worldwide. He has composed and performed numerous film scores including a French-Bulgarian feature film „Granitza“, („The Border“) 1993. Also he recorded themes for films by Italian composers Carlos Siliotto and Ennio Morricone, entitled „An Italian Story“ and „The Breakout of the Innocent“. At the fourth European Jazz Night, Theodosii Spassov was a featured performer along with other jazz musicians, including Winton Marsalis.

At home in Bulgaria, Theodosii Spassov is national figure and musical hero, and was recently honored with the „Music Artist of the Year“ award. He is the Artistic Director of the world-renowned „PHILIP KOUTEV Ensemble Of Music, Drama And Dance“.

Theodosii is currently member of the company of the Irish music and dance „Riverdance“-(1998-2001). Now he is a soloist of Bulgarian National Radio.

The Special Prize of Detroit Flute Festival 1994 The International Academy of Arts in Paris Award 1996 “Music Artist of the Year” at the National Music Awards 1997 and 2002 Apollo Toxophoros for sparkling contribution to Bulgarian music 2001 National Film Centre Annual Awards-”Best film music composer” 2006 “Artist Of Salon Des Arts” 2007 “Dobri Chintulov” for culture activity 2009 “Golden Age” for contribution to Bulgarian culture 2011 „Artist for Peace“ named by UNESCO in commitment to highlight music as a force to enhance dialogue a mong people, cultures and communities. 2015