He was Conductor of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra.The conductor must set his mark on the orchestra. This is what Maestro Emil Chakarov used to say. On June 29 he would have had his 56th birthday. He was born in Bourgas and only at the age of six showed interest in the violin lessons his sister Violeta took. Emil would stand for hours by the radio listening to symphonic music. What was peculiar, the boy waved a pencil as if conducting an imaginary orchestra. His debut with the baton was before the school choir. He happened to get in the Musical Secondary School in Sofia. Then he kept on in the Conservatory. His idol was Herbert Von Carayan. I did my best to meet him, he confessed. And he succeeded; they first met in Salzburg in 1970. The audience and connoisseurs were taken aback by the brilliant musical memory and purposefulness of the young Bulgarian. Carayan found his successor in his person, the Austrian press wrote. Soon Emil Chakarov became the Maestro's apprentice and later an assistant of his. He returned to Bulgaria in 1985 to become conductor of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. Some years later he accomplished another dream of his: a New Year's Christmas Music Fest in the National Palace of Culture. He held the world stage triumphantly till 1991. He conducted his last concert on March 22 in Paris. He passed away on August 4, 1991.