Ilia Mihaylov

Music Director & Researcher

Biography

Ilia Mihaylov (born 1974, Sofia) studied piano, double bass, music theory, and conducting. He holds degrees from ABRSM, The Juilliard School, HEMU (Lausanne Conservatory) and did additional studies at New York University and Geneva Haute École de Musique. Experienced in both performingn and coaching of successful cross-disciplinary projects and seminars, he is equally comfortable with choral, orchestral, sacred, traditional or contemporary music and idioms.

Since 1999, Mr. Mihaylov is the Music Director of the The Great Voices of Bulgaria choir. With this ensemble, he has been immensely successful directing versatile projects together with extraordinary artist such as Prof. Stefan Dragostinov, the Bulgarian kaval virtuoso Theodosii Spassov, the Hollywood composer Michel Colombier, the jazz pianist François Raulin and his trio, the Hungarian organist László Fassang and his traditional flutes and bagpipe counterpart Balázs Dongó Szokolay, to name a few. He has appeared to a critical acclaim in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia and North America at many of the world's great festivals.

Ilia Mihaylov is also a gifted pedagogue who regulary gives masterclasses for major universities including Harvard University, Conservatoire de Strasbourg, Université Paris 8, Choir Academy of the Puisaye Festival (France) and Chengdu School of Culture & Art in China. He was on the faculty of the American College of Sofia from 2009 to 2015 and was the Bulgarian Musical Society’s Artistic Director for fourteen years.

The artist was featured on a documentaries for the Bulgarian National Television, Мezzo TV channel and has recorded for BBC Radio 3, Еdiciones Singulares, Brilliant Classics and Naïve labels. He toured extensivly with the eminent Bulgarian composer Mitko Shterev and recorded his film music for the Bulgarian National Radio Golden Fund.

From 2011 to 2015 Mr. Mihaylov was the Chorus Director of the Bulgarian National Choir Svetoslav Obretenov and conductor with the Sofia Philharmonic. As a guest conductor, he has led all major Bulgarian orchestras, and worked closely with Studio Primo, Concerto Antico, Quarto Ensemble and Camerata Bohemiana (Czech Republic).

Highlight of his career was the experience of working side by side with some of the world’s preeminent artists, such as the conductors Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Mazur, Iván Fischer, Danielle Gatti, Jesús López Cobos, Uroš Lajovic, Jean-Bernard Pommier, the tenor José Carreras, and the choreographers Pina Bausch and Maurice Béjart.

Most recently, Ilia Mihaylov founded the Sofia Psaltes, an ensemble focused on the Byzantine- Slavic chanting tradition, directed a musicological research, recorded a CD and published a book. Curently he is a PhD Candidate at Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski". He is fluent in English, French, Italian, Russian, and Bulgarian, reflecting his passion for cross-cultural collaboration and communication through the arts.

“La Belle Nivernaise” is an unexpected combination of a silent film by the great director in the history of European cinema Jean Epstein, the Great Voices of Bulgaria choir conducted by Ilia Mihaylov and the Trio of the French jazz pianist François Raulin. Presented to great success in Italy, France and Bulgaria it earned rave reviews describing it as “an event of European scale, a real symbiosis of impressionist cinema and Eastern Balkan music.”

This cinema concert is devised as a series of musical pictures developing against the background of the images from the film by commenting or supplementing them. The magic power of Bulgarian voices is a unique match to the original compositions of the trio of jazz musicians. Thus, an intriguing dialogue between the European jazz and its improvisational element and the timeless music of folk songs is attained.

Diverse music sensibility creates a new and rare sound and while acting as a support to the film’s plot it becomes an unexpected co-author of the cinema narrative.

Together We Sing

Through his dynamic presence on the podium, and tireless advocacy for arts education Ilia Mihaylov has introduced music to new audiences around the world.

Giving masterclasses and collaborating with major educational institutions he has created divers teaching projects for students from all levels and musical background.

Ilia has committed time and energy to his mission of bringing music to young people, firm in his belief that the arts play an essential role in creating a more just, peaceful, and integrated society.