Angelina-Ogniana Gotcheva was born on 17.09.1992 in Sofia. She graduated from the National Academy of Music “Professor Pancho Vladigerov”, Sofia in 2015 in the clarinet class of Professor Borislav Yotzov. In 2013 and 2014/2015, she was Erasmus Student at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp in the class of Professor Ivo Lybeert and Аssistant Raymond Dils.
She has appeared in numerous chamber music concerts and festivals, solo recitals, independent projects and interdisciplinary performances. As a member of Ensemble SILAKBO, she is part of the successful international projects Est-Ouest, SynAESTHETICS and others, including world premieres of pieces, written especially for them. In 2019, she carried out the premiere Bulgarian performance of the Clarinet concerto of Carl Nieslen with Shumen Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Kalina Vassileva.
During the period 2008-2019, she is a soloist of New Symphony Orchestra, Classic FM Orchestra, the philharmonic orchestras of Sofia, Shumen and Vidin, the Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and others.
She was awarded national and international competitions: National Competition Varban Varbanov, Burgas, Bulgaria, 2010 - First Prize; International Competition Magic, Burgas, Bulgaria, 2011 - First Prize and special prize of the Burgas’ Opera; 15th International Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition, Edirne, Turkey 2012 - Second Prize; International Competition Young Virtuosos, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2014 – Second Prize; International Chamber Music Competition Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2015 – Third prize and Special prize for interpretation of Bulgarian piece in duo with Bogdan Ivanov, International Competition Young Virtuosos 2017 – First prize as well as two special prizes – the Special prize of EMCY and the Special prize of Cantus Firmus.
She is attendant of: Chamber Music Course and Festival Musica Mundi, Belgium - 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions, where she works with Sir Walter Boeykens; International Summer Academy ISA, Austria, 2013 – with Jiří Hlaváč; Accademia Chigiana, Siena, Italy, 2017 and 2018, where she works with Alessandro Carbonare and David Krakauer.
Masterclasses of: Luigi Magistrelli 2011, Sofia; Jörg Widmann, 2013, Antwepen; Vanguel Tangarov, 2014, Plovdiv; Gaetano Falzaranno, 2015, Sofia; Ralph Manno, 2016, Brühl, Germany; Philippe Cuper, Sofia, 2016.
Lessons with: Pascal Moragues, Chen Halevi, Eli Eban, Evgeni Petrov, Sharon Kam, Luis Lossi, Jean-Luc Votano and others.
During her student years, she is principal clarinet of the student orchestras and during the season 2016/2017, she is an intern at the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
She has recordings at the Bulgarian National Radio and at the sound engineering departments of the National Music Academy of Sofia and the Royal Conservatory in Hague.
She has appeared in numerous chamber music concerts and festivals, solo recitals, independent projects and interdisciplinary performances. As a member of Ensemble SILAKBO, she is part of the successful international projects Est-Ouest, SynAESTHETICS and others, including world premieres of pieces, written especially for them. In 2019, she carried out the premiere Bulgarian performance of the Clarinet concerto of Carl Nieslen with Shumen Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Kalina Vassileva.
During the period 2008-2019, she is a soloist of New Symphony Orchestra, Classic FM Orchestra, the philharmonic orchestras of Sofia, Shumen and Vidin, the Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and others.
She was awarded national and international competitions: National Competition Varban Varbanov, Burgas, Bulgaria, 2010 - First Prize; International Competition Magic, Burgas, Bulgaria, 2011 - First Prize and special prize of the Burgas’ Opera; 15th International Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition, Edirne, Turkey 2012 - Second Prize; International Competition Young Virtuosos, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2014 – Second Prize; International Chamber Music Competition Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2015 – Third prize and Special prize for interpretation of Bulgarian piece in duo with Bogdan Ivanov, International Competition Young Virtuosos 2017 – First prize as well as two special prizes – the Special prize of EMCY and the Special prize of Cantus Firmus.
She is attendant of: Chamber Music Course and Festival Musica Mundi, Belgium - 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions, where she works with Sir Walter Boeykens; International Summer Academy ISA, Austria, 2013 – with Jiří Hlaváč; Accademia Chigiana, Siena, Italy, 2017 and 2018, where she works with Alessandro Carbonare and David Krakauer.
Masterclasses of: Luigi Magistrelli 2011, Sofia; Jörg Widmann, 2013, Antwepen; Vanguel Tangarov, 2014, Plovdiv; Gaetano Falzaranno, 2015, Sofia; Ralph Manno, 2016, Brühl, Germany; Philippe Cuper, Sofia, 2016.
Lessons with: Pascal Moragues, Chen Halevi, Eli Eban, Evgeni Petrov, Sharon Kam, Luis Lossi, Jean-Luc Votano and others.
During her student years, she is principal clarinet of the student orchestras and during the season 2016/2017, she is an intern at the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
She has recordings at the Bulgarian National Radio and at the sound engineering departments of the National Music Academy of Sofia and the Royal Conservatory in Hague.
Edgar Gomes began playing violin at the age of five and entered the Oporto Music Conservatoire at the age of seven, where he finished his studies at the top of his class. At seventeen he entered the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (Oporto Superior School of Music and Performing Arts), completing his Bachelor Degree with an average of 19 out of 20 points. Under the mentorship of renowned violinist Tatiana Samouil, Edgar now works out of Antwerpen, Belgium whilst pursing a Masters at the Koninklijke Conservatorium Antwerpen, supported with a full scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal.
Even during his studies Edgar has performed at a professional level in national and international orchestras from around Europe, his dedication has earned him the position of concertmaster in several of these instance, and has connected him with conductors such as Martin Andre, Pedro Neves, Ivo Venkov, Eduardo Garcia-Barrios, Rodolpho Saglimbeni, Stefan Geiger, António Saiote, Johannes Gustavsson, Giancarlo Andretta and Kurt Masur, among others. He was employed in programs of the “Casa da Música Symphonic Orchestra”, “Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra” and the “Antwerp Symphony Orchestra”. As a soloist, he has also participated in several national and international competitions in Portugal, in which he received several prizes, having recently won ex-aequo the “Helena Sá e Costa Prize” in his university and the 2nd prize in the “Young Musician Competition”, Chamber Music, with the “sFourzato Quartet” and had concerts in Portugal, Brazil, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France and Bulgaria. He also participated in the 1st edition of the “Harmos Festival” in Brasil and Portugal in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He had opportunity to work with masters such as Serguei Kravchenko, Ludovico Tramma, Gerardo Ribeiro, Yuri Nasuschkin, Gyula Stuller, Svetlana Makarova, Pavel Vernikov, Bartek Niziol, Raphael Wallfish (Chamber Music), Massimo Quarta, Nicolas Dautricourt (Chamber Music), Gordon Nicolic, Stephan Picard, Midori Goto, among others.
Even during his studies Edgar has performed at a professional level in national and international orchestras from around Europe, his dedication has earned him the position of concertmaster in several of these instance, and has connected him with conductors such as Martin Andre, Pedro Neves, Ivo Venkov, Eduardo Garcia-Barrios, Rodolpho Saglimbeni, Stefan Geiger, António Saiote, Johannes Gustavsson, Giancarlo Andretta and Kurt Masur, among others. He was employed in programs of the “Casa da Música Symphonic Orchestra”, “Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra” and the “Antwerp Symphony Orchestra”. As a soloist, he has also participated in several national and international competitions in Portugal, in which he received several prizes, having recently won ex-aequo the “Helena Sá e Costa Prize” in his university and the 2nd prize in the “Young Musician Competition”, Chamber Music, with the “sFourzato Quartet” and had concerts in Portugal, Brazil, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France and Bulgaria. He also participated in the 1st edition of the “Harmos Festival” in Brasil and Portugal in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He had opportunity to work with masters such as Serguei Kravchenko, Ludovico Tramma, Gerardo Ribeiro, Yuri Nasuschkin, Gyula Stuller, Svetlana Makarova, Pavel Vernikov, Bartek Niziol, Raphael Wallfish (Chamber Music), Massimo Quarta, Nicolas Dautricourt (Chamber Music), Gordon Nicolic, Stephan Picard, Midori Goto, among others.
Mikko Pablo (Los Angeles, 1992) began playing the cello in the Philippines at age of 15 under the guidance of Amador Tamayo. Three years later, he received a full scholarship to study with Bongshin Ko and Daniel Rothmuller of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the California State University Fullerton. In 2017, Mikko completed his master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp in Belgium under the tutelage of Justus Grimm.
As a student, Mikko has played in master classes for cellists Pieter Wispelwey, Julian Steckel, Peter Bruns, Young Chang Cho, Gustav Rivinius, Nathaniel Rosen, Julie Albers, Alexander Rudin, Vagram Saradjan, Richard Bamping, Emilio Colon, Petr Prause, Josep Bassal and Mario de Secondi.
As a chamber musician, he has performed alongside artists such as Eliane Reyes, Tatiana Samouil, Justus Grimm, Razvan Popovici, Leo de Neve and Elisa Kawaguti of the Spiegel Quartet and members of the Talich Quartet.
An avid performer of contemporary music, he collaborates with several living composers such as Wim Henderickx, Pamela Madsen, Richard Carrick, and Tarik O’Regan. Mikko recently had the honor of working together with renowned composer Sofia Gubaidulina to perform her work “In Croce” for cello and bayan for deSingel’s 2019 Gubaidulina homage concert with the composer in attendance.
He has performed in several music festivals worldwide, including the 1000 Cellist Festival in Hiroshima, Japan, the Philadelphia International Music Festival in Pennsylvania, USA, the Summit Music Festival in New York, USA, the Roundtop International Music Festival in Texas, USA, the Schlern International Music Festival in Bolzano, Italy, the Académie Internationale de Musique in Tignes, France, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, ppIANISSIMO Contemporary Music Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria and the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival where he performed under the batons of conductors including Christoph Eschenbach and Michael Sanderling.
Concert venues have included Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall New York, BOZAR Brussels, deSingel Antwerp, and many more.
Mikko is also an active proponent of Filipino music and culture. In a recent concert in Brussels, he premiered a work for cello and piano by Philippine National Artist Lucio San Pedro and in 2014, he organized and performed in a benefit concert “Tulong Visayas” in California, USA, which raised thousands of dollars for the victims of typhoon Haiyan.
As a student, Mikko has played in master classes for cellists Pieter Wispelwey, Julian Steckel, Peter Bruns, Young Chang Cho, Gustav Rivinius, Nathaniel Rosen, Julie Albers, Alexander Rudin, Vagram Saradjan, Richard Bamping, Emilio Colon, Petr Prause, Josep Bassal and Mario de Secondi.
As a chamber musician, he has performed alongside artists such as Eliane Reyes, Tatiana Samouil, Justus Grimm, Razvan Popovici, Leo de Neve and Elisa Kawaguti of the Spiegel Quartet and members of the Talich Quartet.
An avid performer of contemporary music, he collaborates with several living composers such as Wim Henderickx, Pamela Madsen, Richard Carrick, and Tarik O’Regan. Mikko recently had the honor of working together with renowned composer Sofia Gubaidulina to perform her work “In Croce” for cello and bayan for deSingel’s 2019 Gubaidulina homage concert with the composer in attendance.
He has performed in several music festivals worldwide, including the 1000 Cellist Festival in Hiroshima, Japan, the Philadelphia International Music Festival in Pennsylvania, USA, the Summit Music Festival in New York, USA, the Roundtop International Music Festival in Texas, USA, the Schlern International Music Festival in Bolzano, Italy, the Académie Internationale de Musique in Tignes, France, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, ppIANISSIMO Contemporary Music Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria and the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival where he performed under the batons of conductors including Christoph Eschenbach and Michael Sanderling.
Concert venues have included Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall New York, BOZAR Brussels, deSingel Antwerp, and many more.
Mikko is also an active proponent of Filipino music and culture. In a recent concert in Brussels, he premiered a work for cello and piano by Philippine National Artist Lucio San Pedro and in 2014, he organized and performed in a benefit concert “Tulong Visayas” in California, USA, which raised thousands of dollars for the victims of typhoon Haiyan.
Bogdan Ivanov (b. 1993) graduated from the National School for Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), where he studied in the piano class of Elena Velcheva. He obtained a master’s degree at the “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” National Academy of Music (Sofia), where he studied in the piano class of Prof. Yovcho Krushev. In 2016-17, he was an Erasmus student at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Antwerp in the class of Eliane Rodrigues. He has also attended the master classes of Daniel Pollack, Johannes Kropfitsch, Miri Yampolsky, David Krakauer, Milena Mollova, Stella Dimitrova-Maystorova, Tamara Poddubnaya, Trio Absolut and others.
He is a winner of ten national and international music competitions, including the “Dimitar Nenov” International Piano Competition in Razgrad (2014) and the “Liszt – Bartok – Kodaly” International Piano Competition in Sofia (2017). In 2015, he was awarded third prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Plovdiv for his duo Agitare bene with clarinettist Angelina-Ogniana Gotcheva. In 2016, he was awarded the prize of the “Lyuba Encheva” Foundation.
Over the years, Bogdan Ivanov has given many solo and chamber music recitals and appeared as a soloist with the philharmonic orchestras of Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Vratsa and Razgrad, as well as with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Academy of Music in Sofia.
Since 2017, he has been teaching piano at the “Lubomir Pipkov” National School of Music in Sofia. As of 2018, he also pursues a PhD at the National Academy of Music in Sofia.
He is a winner of ten national and international music competitions, including the “Dimitar Nenov” International Piano Competition in Razgrad (2014) and the “Liszt – Bartok – Kodaly” International Piano Competition in Sofia (2017). In 2015, he was awarded third prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Plovdiv for his duo Agitare bene with clarinettist Angelina-Ogniana Gotcheva. In 2016, he was awarded the prize of the “Lyuba Encheva” Foundation.
Over the years, Bogdan Ivanov has given many solo and chamber music recitals and appeared as a soloist with the philharmonic orchestras of Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Vratsa and Razgrad, as well as with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Academy of Music in Sofia.
Since 2017, he has been teaching piano at the “Lubomir Pipkov” National School of Music in Sofia. As of 2018, he also pursues a PhD at the National Academy of Music in Sofia.