April 14, 2016 / Thursday /
18.30 . Hall ” M -Ro Georgi Atanasov ”
Conductor: Piero Romano (Italy) Soloist: Ivan Donchev – piano
program :
S.Rahmaninov – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra №3, re- minor
P.I. Tchaikovsky – Overture ” Romeo and Juliet ” Ya.Sibelius – ” Finland
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April 21, 2016 / Thursday /
18.30 . Hall ” M -Ro Georgi Atanasov ”
Conductor: Eugene Shevkenov Soloist: Hiroyo Watanabe (Japan) – violin
program :
Fr. . Schubert – Symphony № 8 , Si – Minor ” Unfinished ”
E. Chausson – Poem for Violin
E. Grieg – ” Per Gint ” Suite № 1
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April 28, 2016 / Thursday /
18.30 . Hall ” M -Ro Georgi Atanasov ”
soloists:
Conductor: Gregory Palikarov Andrea Adzolini (Italy) – piano Margarita Santi (Italy) – piano
program :
Schumann – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
A. Dvorak – Overture ” Carnival “
Rachmaninov – Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
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April 14, 2016
PIERO ROMANO
Winner of various national and international competitions, Piero Romano has performed both as pianist and conductor in many Italian cities as well as in Austria, North America (Carnegie Hall-New York), South America, Spain (Auditorium Nazionale-Madrid), Belgium, France (Comédie Française Paris), Switzerland, Albania, Mexico (Palacio de Bellas Artes-Ciudad de Mexico), Venezuela, Greece (Megaron-Atene), Portugal. He has worked with the Philharmonia of Greensboro, of the State of Mexico, the Alicante Symphony Orchestra, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra (the oldest orchestra in Europe), the Orchestra of Madeira, the Nuevo Leòn Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester Pforzheim, the United European Chamber Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra, the Solisti Aquilani, the Everett Symphony Orchestra.He Is well-known for his work with Pavel Vernikov, Bruno Canino, Ilya Grubert, Pierre Amoyal, Franco Maggio Ormezowsky, Rino Marrone, Robert Gutter, Vincenzo Mariozzi, Werner Stiefel, Katia Ricciarelli, Antonella Ruggiero, Leonel Morales, Reiner Schmidt, Stefano Bollani, Pierluigi Camicia, Aldo Ciccolini, Sergej Krylov, Noa, Roberto Cappello, Michel Camilo, Sergei Nakariakov, Tony Hadley, Luis Bacalov.Since 2014 he is Director at the Matera Conservatoire and since 1993 he is Artistic Director of the Orchestra della Magna Grecia. He has been Artistic Director for the Comune di Taranto Opera Season. His recordings include music by Gervasio, Poulenc,Rota, Lord Berner’s, Walton, Procaccini.
IVAN DONCHEV
Born in Bourgas, Bulgaria. Ivan Donchev started started to study piano in the class of Julia Nenov, nine years won second prize at the International Competition in Stresa, Italy. 12 years debuted Burgas State Philharmonic, performing the Concerto in Re Major by Haydn. Graduation with honors at the Conservatory “Torre Franca” in Vibo Valentia, Italy. He graduated with a degree in chamber music at Konservatoriyata Santa Cecilia in Rome and studied jazz improvisation and composition. He specializes in world-renowned French pianist Aldo Chikolini of whom received a scholarship and with whom he formed a piano duo. Music critics describe Ivan Donchev as ‘refined and concentrated’ ( ‘Qobuz Magazine’, France), ‘full of temperament’ ( “Darmstadter Echo”, Germany), “gifted with flawless technique and exceptional ability to excite” ( “Il Cittadino”, Italy). It has won prestigious international competitions in Dublin, Varna, Provadia, Monopoly, Milan, in the name of Sergio Fiorentino and others. a total of 19 awards won. Winner of the award for best student in Italy At age 16, he won the grand prize of the Chopin Society in Darmstadt and debuted in the hall Gashtayg in Munich. Ivan Donchev gave regular concerts worldwide. He played as a soloist with many symphony orchestras. He worked with renowned conductors such as Albert Schweitzer, Hideaki Hirai, Stefano Trasimeno, Jordan Dafov, Grigor Palikarov, Giuseppe Lancet, Ivan Kozhuharov, Ile-Ku Lee, Luigi Di Fronzo and others. His repertoire is very wide and includes piano literature from Bach to contemporary composers. Ivan Donchev teaches piano at the Music Academy “made” in Rome and is a guest professor. Doctorate courses in the city of Ascoli. He has repeatedly invited as a jury member at international competitions.Regularly leads master classes in Bulgaria, USA, Italy, England, Japan, South Korea. On March 5, 2015 debut in New York with The performance of Beethoven’s .
April 21, 2016
EUGENIY CHEVKENOV
Born 1971 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Eugeniy Chevkenov started to study violin at age of 6, at 13 gave his first solo- recital and played as a soloist with an orchestra. At age 17 won 1st prizes at both National Violin Competition and National Chamber Music Competition. After studies in Sofia continued his education in Vienna, where still a student he played several years in Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Staatsoper. Winner of numerous intenational awards he has given concerts as soloist and conductor in nearly 40 countries worldwide, in most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall New York, Musikeverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Metropoliten Arts Center Tokio, Osaka Symphony Hall, Pesti Vigado Budapest, Bellas Artes Mexico City… In 2000 he was awarded Honor Citizenship of Austria for his extraordinary achievements as a musician. In the same year he became Professor at Gustav-Mahler Conservatory Vienna, 2012-2014 deputy director. Since 2013 Professor at „Wiener Musikseminar“, since 2014 at „Richard Wagner Conservatory“ Vienna. Numerous master-classes in Europe, America and Asia, member of International juries at competitions. Since 2014 chairman of the Culture Committee of Vienna Economic Forum. Founder and music director of Ensemble Concertante Vienna.
HIROYO WATANABE
Hiroyo Watanabe was born in 1992 in Osaka, Japan. She received her first violin lessons at age of 5 at the Toho Gakuen music school for children. In 2008 she moved to Tokyo, studied with S. Ishii at the Toho Gakuen music high school and the college music department, and graduated in March 2015. She performed at the La Folle Journée en Japon in 2010 and 2011 in Tokyo, in 2012 in Tosu. As a soloist she worked with Prima Vista quartet from Poland, four sesons by Vivaldi.
Currently she studies with Prof. Eugeniy. Chevkenov at the Richard Wagner Conservatory Vienna, and with Prof Gerald Schubert from Vienna State Music University
April 28, 2016
GRIGOR PALIKAROV
Grigor Palikarov (was born in 1971 in Plovdiv) graduated National High School of Music And Dancing Art “Dobrin Petkov” – Plovdiv. His main major was piano, which he graduated with full scores and golden medal in 1990. After that he achieve a diploma of master degree from The National Musician Academy “Pancho Vladigerov” – Sofia , for the following majors : opera and symphony conducting with prof. C. Kazandjiev and prof. Yves. Vulpe; composition with prof. D. Tapkov, piano – with Prof.. Kr. Taskov and choral conducting with Professor. St. Kralev. He specialised in composition with Professor Erich Urbaner at the Vienna Conservatory, Austria.
His debut on the opera stage was as a student (22 years), when he conducted “Rigoletto” at the opera houses in Pleven and Stara Zagora.
His professional career as a conductor began in Symphony Ensemble of the Bulgarian Army (1995-1997), and from 1997 to 1999 he was a chief conductor of the Ensemble. Meanwhile, he assumed the post of chief conductor and artistic director of the Youth Philharmonic “Pioneer” (1998-2003). He also debuted at the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia in 1998 by conducting a gala concert of Gena Dimitrova. Since 2001 he was appointed as a full-time conductor of the Opera and into the current moment his repertoire includes more than 55 opera and ballet titles. Since the beginning of the 2005/06 season, Mr. Palikarov has also taken the position of General Artistic Manager and Conductor of the Symphony-Operetta Orchestra „ m-ro G. Atanasov” – Pazardzhik.
Mr. Palikarov is often invited as a guest conductor of many orchestras and opera theatres in Bulgaria among: Symphony Orchestra of Bulgarian National Radio, Classic FM Orchestra – Sofia, where he is a permanent conductor for the 2008/09 season, Sofia Philharmonic, Festival Orchestra – Sofia, State Opera in Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Ruse and Stara Zagora, Pleven Philharmonic etc. After series of conducting appearances, special place occupy numerous studio recordings of various musical composition with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, as well as participations in prestigious national and international music festivals such as “Sofia Music Weeks”, “March Music Days” – Rousse, “European Music Festival “- Sofia,”Apollonia “Laureate days” Katya Popova “- Pleven,” Austrian Music Weeks “,” New Bulgarian music “,” Winter Musical Evenings “- Pazardzhik, Festival of Opera and Ballet Art – Stara Zagora , Festival of Contemporary Music – Pula, Croatia, “May Opera Evenings” – Skopje, Macedonia and others.
Mr. Palikarov regularly carried out many tours abroad including countries like Germany, Austria (with Ensemble “New Ton,” Vienna), Belgium (with the National Orchestra of Belgium), France, Italy, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Slovenia (with the National Opera and Ballet-Ljubljana), Switzerland, Taiwan (with Century Orchestra-Taipei), USA (with Opera Circle-Cleveland), Japan, etc. His debut in the USA has been mentioned by the American critics as “one of the most important musical events for year 2009.” For state of Ohio, Krasnoyarsk opera and ballet – Russian Philharmonic “Janacek” – the Czech Republic and others. In October 2014 M-ro Grigor Palikarov has made two concerts with the Orchestra of Classic FM radio in the prestigious Alte Oper (Frankfurt) program of the festival EUROPEAN CULTURAL DAYS, organized by the European Central Bank.
In addition to his work as a conductor, Mr. Palikarov composes music and performs as a piano soloist with different orchestras in Bulgaria, he also teaches musical analysis at the State Academy of Music and Dance Arts-Plovdiv as an Assistant Professor. Some of his works were performed at music festivals and recorded many times.
For its successful appearances as a composer and pianist he has been awarded a number of prestigious national and international awards from the competitions “Svetoslav Obretenov”, “Albert Roussel”, “Music and Earth” and others. Mr. Palikarov is a winner of the prestigious “Crystal Lyre” of UBMD – 2001 and 2012 as well as the award “Golden Pen”.
Within two terms Mr. Palikarov was chairman of the “Mensa” – Bulgaria.
ANDREA AZZOLINI
The Italian pianist Andrea Azzolini is recognised by the music world as a distinctive and exuberant young talent. His performances have been described as “far from being academic and dry; rather, he is brimming with youthful vitality, warmth and temperament”. In the 2014/2015 season, he was awarded the Premier Prix and Outstanding Artistic Performance prize at the 10th International Piano Competition “Albert Roussel” and the Grand Prix at the “Music and Earth” international competition in Sofia. These awards in July 2015 led to the release of a CD containing music by Beethoven and Liszt. He has performed in major Italian cities and abroad, in Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Bulgaria, Belgium, England and Holland. He has performed in the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, in the Rachmaninov Hall, Moscow, with the Kammerorchester (ZKO) in Zurich, in Padova with “Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto” and in Sofia with the “National Academy Symphony Orchestra”. He has won the first prize in the “A.Salieri”, “Premio Arte e Musica”, “Val Tidone” and “Città di Firenze” international piano competitions. Andrea Azzolini began studying piano at the age of seven. He graduated from the “F. E. dall’ Abaco” Conservatory in Verona, having studied under Laura Palmieri, a pupil of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. At thirteen he debuted with the Conservatory of Padua Youth Orchestra with Haydn’s Concerto in D major. He continued his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, under the tutelage of Natalia Trull. During these years he came into contact with important personalities of the music world, including Dmitry Bashkirov, Gary Graffman, Pavel Gililov, Leonid Margarius, Vanessa Latarche. Their praise of his talent was unanimous. Next season he will give recitals in, Brussels, Sofia and Munich and will perform with orchestras in concertos by Beethoven, Poulenc, Schumann and Chopin.
MARGHERITA SANTI
The italian pianist Margherita Santi has been awarded in several national and international piano competitions, gaining beyond ten first prizes including “Accademia Filarmonica Prize” as the best 2010 graduate pianist. These achievements led her to start an artistic career, performing in many concert halls and theaters in Italy and Europe both as soloist and with well-known and gifted partners. In the last few years she attended numerous masterclasses, enjoying widespread appreciation by renowned artists such as Gary Graffman, Pavel Gililov, Ilana Vered, Gustavo Romero. In 2013 she moved to Moscow, where she has been studying for two years at “Tchaikovsky Conservatory” with Natalia Troull. Margherita’s career led her to perform in diverse festivals in Italy (“Giovani interpreti associati” in Brescia, “Associazione amici dell’opera” in Pistoia, “Accademia filarmonica” on Verona, AGIMUS of Bologna) and abroad (ZKO in Zuerich, Rachmaninov Hall e Malji Zal in Moscow). In 2011 she released a Cd cointaning music by Chopin and Liszt.Margherita was born in 1994 in Verona and started studying piano at the age of five. She graduated at the age of 16 summa cum laude, under the guidance of Laura Palmieri, who inherited the pianistic school of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. After the graduation, she was admitted at “Accademia Santa Cecilia” in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli. She is currently in a Master Course, studying with Isabella Lo Porto at “B.Marcello” Conservatory in Venice.