Figures of Plovdiv

Figures of Plovdiv

Ivan Spassov (1934-1996)

Ivan Spassov (1934-1996)

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Ivan Spassov (Jan. 17, 1934, Sofia, - Dec. 22, 1996, Plovdiv), composer, conductor, pedagogue...

Ivan Spassov graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1957, majoring in Composition under Professor Pancho Vladigerov and Choral Conducting under Professor Georgi Dimitrov. He specialised in composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and Stanislaw Wislocki at the Warsaw Conservatoire (1960-62). At his graduation concert, Spassov conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic premiering his First symphony.

Upon his return he was appointed symphony conductor. He founded the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra and the Plovdiv Musical Youth Society. This gave him the opportunity to premiere works by Penderecki and other modern authors. In 1967 he took part in the summer courses for new music in Darmstadt, where in 1968 the Orchestra of Radio Frankfurt conducted by Gilen performed his Episodes for Four Timbral Groups.

From 1970 to 1991 he was Main Artistic Director of the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra, with which he toured and recorded in Bulgaria and abroad. From 1989 to the end of his life in 1996 he worked as professor and Rector of the Academy of Music and Dance Art in Plovdiv.

He lectured in the USA (1982, 1989, 1990). In 1989 he conducted the Symphony Orchestra of Garden Grove (Los Angeles) in New York, where he performed his work 20th Century Mankind, dedicated to the ONU, before the General Secretary of the ONU Xavier Perez de Cuellar. As a conductor, he also premiered a number of works by contemporary Bulgarian and foreign composers.

He was among the instigators and leading figures of the vanguard tendencies in modern Bulgarian music. He composed a mono opera and an opera (unfinished); 4 symphonies; 4 concertos; cantatas; orchestral, instrumental, vocal music; choral and solo songs; music scores to 50 theatre performances and 3 films, etc.

In his music the traditional Bulgarian melody and its rich ornamentation and rhythmical diversity are subject to individual rethinking by means of vanguard techniques such as aleatory, improvisation, etc. His choral songs are well established in the repertoire of the most eminent Bulgarian choral ensembles and are internationally acclaimed. His vocal-orchestral works from 1980s and 1990s are marked by a deeply felt spirituality.

His works were performed in a number of European countries, the USA, Japan and Australia. He recorded for Bulgarian and foreign radio stations and released his music on LP and CD.

Nayden Todorov (born 1974)
Nayden Todorov (born 1974)
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Nayden Todorov was born in 1974 in Plovdiv. He received his first piano lessons at the age of five, and by sixteen had led his first concert as conductor. He studied with Alexander Vladigerov in So...
Dimitar Kirov (1935-2008)
Dimitar Kirov (1935-2008)
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Eminent Plovdiv artist. He graduated in 1959 from the academy of Arts in Sofia. He lives and works in Plovdiv. Winner of numerous art awards. His name has been connected to the so called P...
Hristo G. Danov (1828 -1911)
Hristo G. Danov (1828 -1911)
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Teacher, man of letters, founder of the organised publishing in Bulgaria; member of the BG Literary Society (todays Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). In the period 1854-56, while a teacher ...
Alexander Bourago, Captain / later Colonel (around 1853 - 1883)
Alexander Petrovich Bourago was an eminent military figure. He graduated from the Nikolaevsko Military Cavalry School in Sankt Petersburg, Russia. Captain Bourago was the comander of a cavalry squa...
Yosafat Shishkov, Father (1884 - 1952)
Yosafat Shishkov was born on February 9th, 1884 in Plovdiv, in a catholic family. In 1900, he became a novice in Turkey and accepted the name of Yosafat. He studied Philosophy and theology in Belgi...
Hristo Hristov (April 11th, 1926 - April 17th, 2007))
Hristo Hristov is among the most eminent film directors and screen writers in Bulgarian cinema. He was born on April 11th
Georgi Atanassov, Maestro (1882 - 1931)
Conductor, composer, pioneer of Bulgarian opera. He graduated as a student of Pietro Mascani at the Rossini College in Pesaro, Italy, as Maestro di Musica. Atanassov made his early career as a mili...
Theodosii Spassov (born 1961)
Theodosii Spassov (born 1961)
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The eminent Bulgarian musician is often a guest to his beloved Plovdiv on various cultural occasions. The virtuoso, who is the most popular shepherd flute “kaval” ‘s jazz performer, is practically ...
Tsvetana Maneva (born 1944)
Tsvetana Maneva (born 1944)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
She was born in Plovdiv on January 30th, 1944, and her artistic career starts from here. Today, most Bulgarian consider her an “intellectual type of actress “. The eminent Bulgarian actress makes h...
Atanas Samokovliev (1832 - 1905)
Atanas Samokovliev (1832 - 1905)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Atanas Samokovliev (also known by the nickname Atanas Samokovets) was born in 1832 in the town of Samokov. He was a trader and a public figure. He was the first Mayor of Plovdiv ...