AmBul8

Featured Artists in Collaboration

On October 12 in A Century of American Song –

MARIO ANGELOV (Bulgaria)
The resident pianist of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, he was last heard at AmBul in 2003 with Amy Jarman. Previous appearances at the festival include his 1999 solo recital with music of Pancho Vladigerov, Alexander Tcherepnin, Henri Lazarof, Miroslav Danev, and George Crumb’s Macrokosmos.

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AMY JARMAN (USA)
Comes to AmBul from Vanderbilt University, where she is a Senior Lecturer in Voice at the Blair School of Music. She was last heard at the festival in 2003, performing the Bulgarian premieres of Stan Link’s Ground Swell and, with Mario Angelov,, songs by Lee Hoiby, Stefania deKennesy, and William Bolcom.
Full bio atwww.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/faculty/faculty_voice

On Octomber 13 in Complete Christoff Harp Etudes, 2002-7 –

DIMITER CHRISTOFF (Bulgaria)
Professor Emeritus of Polyphony at the National Music Academy of Sofia, Christoff’s unique voice in musical creation is immediately recognizable and compelling. His recent music was first performed at the festival in 2001 (WP of Jolting Further) and includes substantial cycles of works for individual instruments and performers, such as a series of piano sonatas for Ganka Nedelcheva and six books of harp etudes for Anna-Maria Ravnopolska.
Full bio at www.ubc-bg.com

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ANNA-MARIA RAVNOPOLSKA (Bulgaria/USA)
Associate Professor of Music at the American University in Bulgaria, her work as a soloist and recording artist is well-known in Bulgaria and abroad. Her most recent festival appearance was in 2003 performing a set of her own Haiku pieces with poet Ginka Bilyarska. Previous festival performances include the world premiere of Dimiter Christoff.**
home.aubg.bg/faculty/amrdean/

On October 14 in Petros Ovsepyan’s Studies in Sound, 1990-2005

ANDREY KASPAROV (USA)
Professor of piano and director of the CREO New Music Ensemble at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Kasparov is an active soloist and recitalist who recently gave the world premiere of the newly-discovered revised edition of Bela Bartok's Third Piano Concerto. His performance collaboration with Petros Ovsepyan began at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, where both completed doctorates in composition in the 1990s. This is his AmBul debut.
al.odu.edu/music/directory/kasparov.shtml

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Petros Ovsepyan (USA/GERMANY)
Based in Berlin, he has received commissions from ensembles and foundations throughout Europe, most recently from the Kairos Quartet. His music, combining subtle physical movement with an intense musical line moving into and out of “active” silence, has continued to evolve since his Bloomington and Amsterdam periods, making him an unsuspecting radical of Europe’s new avant-garde. His music was last heard at the festival in 2000, when guitarist Alan Thomas and flutist Helen Bledsoe gave the WP of a new version of his The C of Love.
www.petrosovsepyan.com

On October 14 in Mihail Goleminov World Premiere

ARDENZA TRIO (Bulgaria/USA)
This Sofia-based chamber ensemble (with Galina Koycheva, violin; Geoffrey Dean, cello; Daniela Dikova, piano) combines youthful enthusiasm with the uncompromising professionalism of veteran musicians and has been a constant presence on the Bulgarian musical scene since 2004. The trio’s all-Bulgarian program during the 2007 festival included the WP of works by Artin Potourlian and Petko Staynov. This year Ardenza joins with MICHAIL GOLEMINOVin his latest sound spectacle.
www.ardenzatrio.com

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MICHAIL GOLEMINOV (Bulgaria)
Always original and provocative, the works of this multimedia artist make real-time use of his patented computer software to give new meaning to concepts of looping and chaining. Following his festival debut as composer in 2003, he participates in AmBul8 as both composer and performer in his latest work for the ARDENZA TRIO.**
www.orangefactory.net

On October 13 in Ventsislav Dikov plays Ventsislav Dikov

VENTSISLAV DIKOV (Bulgaria)
One of the most versatile and provocative artists of his generation, Dikov received his formal training as classical guitarist in Bulgaria and Germany. He performs internationally as a multi-instrumentalist, composes, improvises, and is also a widely-exhibited visual artist. He was last heard at AmBul in 2007, when he joined in from the audience during the Bulgarian premiere of Terry Riley’s In C. This year he makes his official festival debut.
www.dikov.cult.bg

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VENTSISLAV DIKOV