ROSSEN MILANOV

"..one who bears watching by anyone who cares about the future of music."
-Chicago Tribune

Recognized as “one of the most promising figures in the upcoming generation of conductors” by The Seattle Times, Rossen Milanov was appointed Music Director of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in 2009. During the 2009-2010 season, he made a series of international debuts, including the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), the Rochester Philharmonic, the Hyogo Symphony (Japan), the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and the China Philharmonic. He continues to serve as Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

A committed supporter of youth and music, Mr. Milanov is Music Director of both the New Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria) and Symphony in C (one of the USA’s leading professional training orchestras). He conducts one opera production per season at the Curtis Institute of Music, and he recently returned to Carnegie Hall for LinkUP!, a program supported and promoted by the Weill Music Institute. He has led a tour with the Australian Youth Orchestra, concerts with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, and was Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony from 1997 to 2001.

In the past season, Mr. Milanov returned to the San Antonio and Milwaukee symphonies. His ongoing relationship with the Philadelphia Orchestra has included critically acclaimed performances at the Mann Center, at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, and at the Kimmel Center, where highlights have included performances with Leila Josefowicz and Yo-Yo Ma. Other appearances during the 2009-10 season included concerts with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of Royal Swedish Opera. Mr. Milanov has also worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, the Orchestra of Komische Oper (Berlin), the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

As an opera conductor, Mr. Milanov’s recent performances of La Bohème with the Philadelphia Orchestra, both at the Mann Center and at Bravo!, were received with critical acclaim. He has worked with the legendary Bulgarian bass Nikolai Ghiaurov; in 2008 as Chief Conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra, he led the orchestra in a European tour featuring the international star mezzo-soprano, Vesselina Kasarova.

His recording of works by the Russian composer Alla Pavlova with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is available on the Naxos label, and a live performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.15 is available though Philadelphia Online.

Mr. Milanov studied conducting at the Juilliard School, where he received the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship, the Curtis Institute of Music, Duquesne University, and the Bulgarian National Academy of Music. He has received the Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Bulgarian Culture, awarded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. In 2005, he was chosen as Bulgaria’s Musician of the Year.

• Rossen Milanov: www.rossenmilanov.net
• Symphony in C: www.symphonyinc.org
• Philadelphia Orchestra: http://www.philorch.org