(B. 1958, Ireland)
Guttersnipe
for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2016) *
[Written for Hard
Rain Ensemble]
Martin
Pavlov – flute
Rosen Idealov
– clarinet
Sara
Panosyan – violin
Maria
Vasileva – cello
Bogdan
Ivanov – piano
Play
for solo piano (2015) *
[Written for Claire Hammond]
Aleksandar
Botusharov – piano
Malala
for piano trio (2014) *
[Written for The
Fidelio Trio]
Sara
Panosyan – violin
Maria
Vasileva – cello
Aleksandar
Botusharov – piano
Two Guys
Walk into a Piano Bar for two pianos (2011) *
[Written for Finghin Collins and Charles Lloyd]
Bogdan
Ivanov – piano
Aleksandar
Botusharov – piano
Clockwork
Soldiers for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2018)
**
[Specially written on the occasion of ppIANISSIMO 2019]
Martin
Pavlov – flute
Rosen
Idealov – clarinet
Sara
Panosyan – violin
Maria
Vasileva – cello
Bogdan
Ivanov – piano
__________
* Bulgarian premiere
** World premiere
* * *
The event is held under the patronage of
H. E. Michael Forbes
(Ambassador of Ireland to Bulgaria)
(Ambassador of Ireland to Bulgaria)
and thanks to the generous support of:
* * *
Stephen Gardner
(b. 1958) studied music at the Universities of Ulster and Wales from 1984 to
1990. His first commission was Wanting,
not wanting (1992) for the Ulster Orchestra. This composition showed an
early desire to express composers’ response to the conflict in the North. Since
then, his works have been performed worldwide.
To
date, he has composed eleven works for orchestra. A CD called Hallelujah containing three of these
works was released to critical acclaim by the Ireland's National Television and
Radio Broadcaster (RTÉ) in 2013. A key to the development of his ensemble
writing was the partnership established with the Concorde ensemble
and its artistic director Jane O’Leary, resulting in seven works. Subsequently,
Gardner has written a series of choral works (with financial support from The Arts Council) over the past few
years.
Recent
compositions include No Prayers, Nor
Bells (2016) for orchestra, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of The
Battle of the Somme, as well as a quartet of songs for voice and piano (2016)
for the mezzo-soprano Carolyn Dobbin. The Crash
Ensemble premiered Jerk in March
2017. Also premiered in 2017, by Hard
Rain Ensemble, was Guttersnipe.
The choir Te Deum Adoramus premiered Innocent in Sofia in 2017. This was to
celebrate their 20th anniversary. A major project Ulysses Extended was created over a period of 5 months in 2018.
This involved extensive workshopping and improvising, resulting in 3
performances at The James Joyce Centre in Dublin.
After
composing a work specially for ppIANISSIMO
2019 in late 2018, Gardner is commencing 2019 with a large-scale work which
celebrates the gift from the Choctaw Nation to aid Irish Famine relief in the
1840s. As with the Ulysses work, this
will be developed over several months of workshopping and improvisation.
Stephen
Gardner is a member of Aosdána – the
Ireland’s state sponsored association of artists.
Martin Pavlov
is a solo flutist, chamber and orchestral musician. He studied flute with Prof.
Georgi Spasov at the “Lyubomir Pipkov” National School of Music and at the “Prof.
Pancho Vladigerov” National Academy of Music (NAM) in Sofia, where he has been
a regular PhD student for two years now. He participated actively in the master
classes of András Adorján, Pirmin Grehl, Robert Wind, Johannes Meissel, Patrick
Jude, Gottfried Pokorny, Evgenia Epstein and others.
He
is a laureate of many national and international competitions both in Bulgaria
and abroad – in such countries as Serbia, Turkey and Austria. He has performed
as a soloist with orchestras, such as Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, New
Symphony Orchestra, Johannesburg Chamber Orchestra and others. As a member of
chamber ensembles and orchestras, he has played in many countries around the
world – Austria, France, Italy, Germany, England, China, Kuwait and South
Africa.
Nowadays,
he is working as first flutist in the Academic Symphony Orchestra of NAM.
He
has recorded for the Bulgarian National Radio, Four for Music Company and others.
Rosen Idealov
is a graduate of the “Dobri Hristov” National School of Arts in Varna and of
the “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” National Academy of Music (NAM) in Sofia, where
he studied in the clarinet class of Prof. Sava Dimitrov and in the chamber
music class of Prof. Konstantin Chilev. He is currently an assistant professor
in chamber music and accompaniment at the NAM and a teacher of chamber music,
clarinet and orchestral playing at the “Lyubomir Pipkov” National School of
Music in Sofia. In addition, he gives master classes in various universities in
the USA.
He
is successfully concerting in Bulgaria and abroad in countries like Austria,
Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Macedonia, Russia,
China, Korea, the USA and many others. He regularly takes participation in
prestigious music forums and festivals such as: Wien Modern, Triest Prima,
Varna Summer, Sofia Music Weeks, March
Music Days, Salon of Arts, Apolonia, Musica Nova and others. His repertoire includes more than 600
musical pieces from the Renaissance to modern times. He is highly appreciated
as a performer of contemporary music – more than 250 pieces have been written
for him by prominent Bulgarian composers from several different generations.
As
soloists, he has performed with some of the most famous Bulgarian orchestras,
including the Sofia Philharmonic, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian
National Radio (BNR) and the Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra. He has made
numerous studio recordings, notably for BNR and BNT.
Rosen
Idealov has is the recipient of many awards, including the Golden Lyre for high artistic achievements, awarded by the Union of
Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers in Bulgaria.
Sara Panosyan
graduated from the “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” National School of Music and
Performing Arts in Burgas under Lyudmila Ivanova and the “Prof. Pancho
Vladigerov” National Academy of Music (NAM) in Sofia under Prof. Verka
Stefanova. She subsequently specialised with Prof. Yosif Radionov. Since 2018,
she has been a PhD student at the Department of Chamber Music and Accompaniment
of NAM with Prof. Georgita Boyadzhieva-Nikolova, PhD, as doctoral advisor.
She
has been an active participant in the violin master classes of Gil Shaham,
Vladimir Spivakov, Jean Ter-Merguerian, Barbara Doll, Sebastian Gürtler, Vesko
Panteleev-Eschkenazy, Mincho Minchev, Micho Dimitrov, Vesselin Parashkevov and
in the chamber music master classes of Hatto Beyerle, Avedis Kouyoumdjian,
Evgenia Epshtein, Johannes Meissl, Peter Schuhmayer, Péter
Nagy and others.
She
has had solo and chamber music concerts at various festivals including Sofia Music Weeks, European Music Festival, ISA
Festival at the International Summer Academy of the University of Music and
Performing Arts in Vienna and Aurora
Classical Music Festival in Stockholm.
She
has performed as a soloist of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academic
Symphony Orchestra and the Student String Orchestra of the NAM.
Sara
Panosyan has won a number of awards from national and international
competitions as solo and ensemble performer.
Maria Vasileva
studied cello at the “Dobri Hristov” National School of Arts in Varna with
Lyubka Angelova and at the “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” National Academy of Music
(NAM) in Sofia with Prof. Anatoli Krastev. Since 2015, she is a PhD student in
chamber music at NAM with Prof. Georgita Boyadzhieva-Nikolova, PhD, as doctoral
advisor.
She
has participated in many master classes for cello and chamber music, including
those of Yang Chang Cho, Xenia Jankovic, Alexander Hülshoff, Robert Cohen,
Jahannes Meissl, Georg Baich, Marina Kapitanova, Stefan Gardmayer, Álvaro Huertas,
Mats Lidström, Peter Meintz, Dilyana Momchilova, Hatto Beyerle, Avedis
Kouyoumdjian, Evgenia Epshtein, Peter Schuhmayer, Péter Nagy.
She
has participated in various music festivals, including Sofia Music Weeks, European
Music Festival, ISA Festival at
the International Summer Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts
in Vienna and others.
In
2010, she joined the Symphonic Orchestra of Classic FM Radio and, since 2018,
she performs as part of the cello group in Bulgarian National Radio Symphony
Orchestra.
Maria
Vasileva is a laureate of many awards from national and international
competitions, both as soloist and as chamber musician.
Aleksandar Botusharov
graduated from the “Lyubomir Pipkov” National School of Music and from the
“Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” National Academy of Music (NAM) in Sofia in the piano
class of Prof. Iliya Chernaev, PhD. Currently he is a master degree student in
the class of Chernaev as well as in the cembalo class of Prof. Margarita
Krasteva, PhD. He has participated in many master classes, including those of
the professors Victor Chuchkov, Tamara Poddubnaya, Elena Ashkenazy, Markus
Prause and Massimo Gon.
During
his school years he has given four solo concerts. He later appeared as a
soloist of the Philharmonic Orchestras in Vidin and Vratsa, the Academic
Symphony Orchestra of NAM and the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
Over
the years he has won numerous awards from prestigious international piano
competitions including: “Claude Kahn” (Paris, 2006 & 2008), Young Pianists
Competition in Gevgelija (2014), “Scriabin – Bartok” Academic Competition of
the NAM (2015), International Competition for Young Pianists in Niš (2016) and
“Stoyanov – Ravel” Academic Competition of the NAM (2017), where he won the
special award for best performance of a work by Vesselin Stoyanov.
Bogdan Ivanov graduated from the National School for Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv
in the piano class of Elena Velcheva. He earned a Master’s Degree at the “Prof.
Pancho Vladigerov” National Academy of Music (NAM) in Sofia, where he studied
in the piano class of Prof. Yovcho Krushev. In 2016–17, he was an Erasmus
student at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Antwerp in the class of Eliane
Rodrigues. He has also attended the masterclasses of Daniel Pollack, Johannes
Kropfitsch, Miri Yampolsky, Milena Mollova, Stella Dimitrova-Maystorova, Tamara
Poddubnaya, Sandu Sandrin and others.
He is the winner of many national and international music competitions,
including the “Dimitar Nenov” (Razgrad, 2014) and the “Liszt – Bartok – Kodaly”
(Sofia, 2017) piano competitions, as well as the International Chamber Music
Competition in Plovdiv (2015) for his duo with clarinettist
Angelina-Ogniana Gotcheva.
He has given many solo recitals and appeared as soloist with the philharmonic
orchestras of Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Vratsa and Razgrad, as well as with the
Academic Symphony Orchestra of the NAM. As part of the international ensemble SILAKBO, he has given world premieres
and participated in festivals, such as ppIANISSIMO
and Zomer van Antwerpen, as well as
at the Chigiana Summer Academy (Siena), where he worked with David Krakauer.
Since 2017, he has been teaching piano at the “Lubomir Pipkov” National
School of Music in Sofia. As of 2018, he also pursues a PhD at the NAM.
