Rossen Gergov
Rossen Gergov
Conductor
“Rossen Gergov conducts meticulously”
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Biography
Rossen Gergov is internationally recognised for his work both on the symphony orchestra platform and on the opera stage. A conductor with equal enthusiasm for both traditional and contemporary opera productions, he has an impressive command of the opera canon from Mozart to newly commissioned works. He is a regular guest conductor with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and also the Sofia Opera and Ballet, and previously held the position of Chief Conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Having established himself as a prominent conductor in Bulgaria, Rossen's 2024/25 season begins with a re-invitation to Vratsa Philharmonic in October 2024 in a programme of music by Nino Rota and Debussy, and he will be returning to the orchestra in April 2025. Also in April, he returns to Varna Opera for a symphonic concert with music by Beethoven, Paganini and Elgar. In February 2025 and later in the spring, he will be conducting Mozart, Saint-Saens and Ravel with the Pleven Philharmonic, and he is also invited back to the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra for a semi-staged performance of Carmen, after a successful debut last season.
The highlight of last season was his return to the Teatro Comunale, Bolzano to conduct the world premiere of Dorian Gray, a new opera by Matteo Franceschini, based on the Oscar Wilde novel. Rossen’s 2024/25 also saw performances with Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a debut with the Malaysia Philharmonic. In addition to multiple performances in Bulgaria, he also adjudicated at the Cantus Firmus Competition in Sofia.
Amongst Rossen’s highlights from recent seasons were performances of the new production of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer with Sofia Opera. He also conducted the Sofia Philharmonic with trumpet soloist Peter Makedonski, the Pleven Philharmonic in a concerto concert where his three sons were the soloists, and made returns to Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Pomeranian Philharmonic Bydgoszcz.
Past seasons have included performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with soloist Tasmin Little, a ballet production of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with the Sofia Ballet, and returns to Tokyo New City Orchestra, ORF RSO Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Paderewski State Philharmonic Orchestra, and to Teatro Comunale Bolzano, where he conducted semi-staged concert performances of the contemporary opera Alice by Matteo Franceschini.
He has a close relationship with Japanese orchestras, having conducted the Tokyo New City Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony, Hiroshima Symphony and Sapporo Symphony. Across Europe, he has appeared with the Bamberger Symphoniker, DSO Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Orchestra, Katowice, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Pomeranian State Philharmonic, SWR Symphonieorchester, Noord Nederlands Orkest, and the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, and in China, with the China National Symphony Orchestra, and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra.
Past season opera highlights include his debut at Teatro Comunale Bolzano for the 2016/17 season production of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin. Previously, he made his debut at the Nationaltheater Mannheim with a new production of Henze’s Die Bassariden, going on to conduct performances of Cherubini’s Medée. Opera engagements in previous seasons at Bregenzer Festspiele include Tosca, Benedict Mason’s Playing Away and the Austrian premiere of Weinberg’s Das Portrait. He also conducted Die Fledermaus and Rigoletto at Volksoper Wien, La Traviata and Le Nozze di Figaro at Theater Meiningen, Carmen in Varna, and Orpheus in the Underworld with Trinity Laban in London. Very much at home in contemporary repertoire, he has previously conducted performances of Michael Jarrell’s Cassandra at Teatro Rossini, Lugo, Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis with Klangforum Wien and Weinberg’s The Portrait at Opera North, Leeds.
Rossen studied piano and clarinet before taking conducting lessons with Michail Angelov and subsequently studying conducting with Leopold Hager at the University of Music and Fine Arts in Vienna. Seiji Ozawa invited him to the Tanglewood Music Festival after which he acted as Ozawa’s assistant. He conducted the ORF-Sinfonieorchester upon graduation and went on to become Assistant Conductor of the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederösterreich, a post he held until 2009.
Rossen is a Laureate of the first Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in 2007. His recording of works by David Chesky with the Symphony Orchestra of NorrlandsOperan was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 and he has also recorded for the BBC, Bayerische Rundfunk and ORF in Austria.