Figures of Plovdiv

Figures of Plovdiv

Ivan Spassov (1934-1996)

Ivan Spassov (1934-1996)

1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

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.

Alexander Bogoridi, Knjaz (1822 - 1910)
Knjaz Alexander Bogoridi - man of law, statesman. Son of probably the most influential person after the Sultan in the Ottoman Empire - Knjaz Stefan Bogoridi (called Stefanaki Bey). Alexander B...
Karel Skorpil  (1859-1944)
Karel Skorpil (1859-1944)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Czech by origin. Also known under the spelling of Schkorpil (pronounced Sh-korpil). Teacher, archaeologist; museum founder. Spent some time as a teacher of Maths...
Dusho Hadjidekov (around 1827 - 1878)
Eminent trader, public figure, donor; participant in the national liberation movement. He himself funded the construction of the old building of St Trinity School in Plovdiv, and later became its p...
Nedko Donchev Kableshkov (1867 - 1964)
Eminent man of law, journalist and public figure, Nedko Kableshkov is the pioneer of donating in Plovdiv. In 1949 he made a large donation of e...
Nikolay Galov (1943-1993)
Nikolay Galov (1943-1993)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Nikolai Galov, also popular by the nickname “The colleague Galov", was born on July 5, 1943 in Plovdiv.  He died on Jule 9, 1993, in that same city...
Lyuben Grois (1934 - 1982)
Lyuben Grois (1934 - 1982)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
“Labor is the high price of my freedom” - That thought belongs to the great Bulgarian theatre director, Lyuben Grois, and is taken from his two-volume book of “archives”, released 20 years...
Nikolay Haitov (1919 - 2002)
Nikolay Haitov (1919 - 2002)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Academician. One of the best Bulgarian writers. Born in the Rhodope Mountain village of Yavrovo. Author of many novels and short stories. Screenplay-writer of wonderful films (Koziat Rog, i.e. Goat...
Stefka Blagoeva (1938-2000)
Stefka Blagoeva (1938-2000)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Stefka Blagoeva was the founder and main conductor of the Plovdiv Boys’ Choir in 1975. During her conduct the Choir participated in a large number of music festivals all over Bulgaria and Europ...
Lucien Schevalas (1840 - 1921)
Lucien Schevalas (1840 - 1921)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Lucien Schevalas was born in Obonne, Switzerland. Swiss park designer, gardener of royalties. He graduated from the Forestry Institute in Paris. \r\nHe came to Bulgaria afte...
Alexander Banderov (born 1933-2007)
The poet Alexander Banderov has long worked as a journalist (he has been awarded the Gold Pen Award of the Bulgarian Journalists Union), and later was an editor...