Rossen Balkanski

composer, performer, teacher

Rossen Balkanski was born in 1968 in Sofia. He graduated the National Music School "Lubomir Pipkov" and the National Academy of Music "Pantcho Vladigerov" - Sofia. He has received national and international distinctions as a guitarist and composer. He is the first Bulgarian guitarist, who has won an internaional prize - in Kutna Hora, Czech Republik in 1982 as a pupil of Dimitar Doytchinov.

Rossen started to write music as a student in the music college. His first prize as a composer he has received in 1990 for "Three Bulgarian Pieces" and another prize he has won from the II "Ivan Spassov" composition competition in Plovdiv. He is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Composers.

In 1994 the publishing house "BIM" published his piece for a brass-sextett "Song and Dance". Works of Rossen Balkanski has been published also in the magazine "Les Cahiers de la guitare", in "Daminus" and "Dobrev" publishing houses. His works has been played in Europe and USA by leading classical guitarists like Gerhard Reichenbach, Dmitri Illarionov, Atanas Ourkouzounov. Except the guitar works, Rossen composes also music for chamber ensembles, for stage and cinema.

In 2007 in Studio 1 of the Bulgarian National Radio was premiered his Fantasia Concertante for 3 guitars and chamber orchestra. In the same year during the II International guitar and mandolin festival in Vissani, Greece was performed for the first time his Rhapsody "Vissani" for mandolin orchestra, comissioned by the festival.

Together with his activityes as a composer Rossen Balkanski performes solo and in chamber ensembles in Bulgaria and Europe. From 1999 he teaches guitar in the NAM "Pantcho Vladigerov" and later in NMS "Lubomir Pipkov". He directed masterclasses for young guitarists and was a member of the jury in national and international competitions.

ROSSEN BALKANSKI