SOFIA SOLOISTS

Sofia Soloists is one of the oldest European Chamber Orchestras. The orchestra was established in 1962 by a group of young musicians from Sofia Opera in Bulgaria. Their first concert in March 1962, conducted by Michail Angelov, attracted the immediate interest and sympathy of the Sofia audience. Soon afterwards they began touring abroad.

Three conductors have played an important part in the orchestra’s development and in the creation of their very special sound: Vassil Kazandjiev (1964- 1978), Emil Tabakov (1979-1988), Plamen Djouroff (1988-2022) and the current conductor Konstantin Dobroykov, who has directed the orchestra since 2022. These long musical relationships have been a significant factor in the orchestra’s growth.

For 60 years The Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra has performed over 3500 concerts all over the world. They began by delighting audiences at major festivals in Germany and France, and today enjoy great popularity at many other European festivals such as San Sebastian and Santander (Spain), Zagreb and Dubrovnik (Croatia), Città di Castello (Italy), Louvain (Belgium), Bergen (Norway).

The ensemble has toured many countries, mainly in Europe, but also the United States which have visited ten times; 3 tours of South America; 14 tours of Japan; 7 of Korea; India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia.

They have performed in many prestigious venues: New York’s Carnegie Hall; London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Herkulessaal - Munchen, the Salle Gaveau - Paris, Concertgebouw - Amsterdam, Palau de la Musica - Barcelona, Seoul Art Centre, the Sydney Opera House - Australia and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Bunkakaikan and Art Space Centre, as well as the Osaka Symphony Hall.

In 2011 Sofia Soloists participated at first time in the Middle-East, region hitherto unknown. The orchestra has an honor to open the most prestigious festival in the Middle-East: “Al Bustan Festival ”- Beirut, Lebanon. Then they participated in a festival in Alger - Algeria.

Among the names of the internationally renowned musicians of the past, who have performed with the orchestra are those of Henryk Szeryng, Daniil Shafran and Nicanor Zabaleta. In recent times they have worked with Emmanuel Pahud, Nigel Kennedy, HeinzHolliger, Patrick Gallois, Albrecht Breuninger, David Walter, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Sergei Nakariakov, Radek Baborák etc.

The orchestra has more than 600 works in its repertoire, ranging from baroque to contemporary music. They have premiered over 100 works, some of them written especially for them. Their discography comprises over 60 CDs, with many of them available online through Amazon, Naxos and ArkivMusic. Some of their most brilliant repertoire has been published by Sony Classical-BMG, Harmonia Mundi, Columbia, Denon, Decca, Centaur Records, SABA, Victor and Gega New.

In 2004 Sofia Soloists recorded a CD, named ”Bulgarian soul” with famous Bulgarian mezzo soprano Vesselina Kasarova and produced by Sony Classical-BMG, which won the big prize of ECHO in classical