Borjan Canev

BORJAN CANEV (1973) is one of the most famous and sought-after conductors in North Macedonia and abroad. With recent debuts with the Kraków Philharmonic and the North Bohemian Philharmonic, he divides his career between conducting and teaching as Professor of Conducting at the University of St. St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje - Faculty of Music. In his 20 seasons as Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Northern Macedonia, he has been instrumental in raising the level of the ensemble. As an educator and musical mentor, Borjan Canev has trained and guided several generations of musicians who have gone on to careers at home and abroad. Having won the prestigious Virtuosi Best Musical Performance Award (2014) and the Georgi Bozhikov Award (2010) for the best performance of works by Macedonian composers, he is one of the most brilliant musicians in North Macedonia. A graduate of St. St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje - Faculty of Music, Мо. Canev received his Master's degree from the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music and immediately after graduation was appointed conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia - a position he will retain until 2019. In 2000-2001 he specialised at the Royal College of Music in London and obtained the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance - Conductor. During his stay in the UK, he attended master classes with renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniele Gatti, Janos Fürst. He received the August Mans Award (2001) for the best young conductor at the Royal College of Music in London. One of the highlights of his early career was the opportunity to be assistant conductor to Sir Colin Davis at the Royal Opera School. He was later invited to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra as part of Maestro Davies' LSO Discovery Conducting Masterclass. In the following years, Borjan Canev conducted many concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia. He continues to be a regular guest conductor of the ensemble and its chamber orchestra. They have toured North Macedonia and abroad - Rome, Paris, Istanbul, Prague, Caen; they have toured Poland and Kazakhstan. In October 2015, he conducted the Philharmonic's first US tour, which included two concerts in New York City at the famous Carnegie Hall and the Kauffman Music Center. From 2003 to 2006 he was Chief Conductor of the Skopje Soloists Chamber Orchestra, and from 2006 to 2009 he was appointed Permanent Guest Conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic. At the National Opera and Ballet in Skopje, he conducted several performances of Verdi's La Traviata, the premiere of the new production of Mozart's The Magic Flute and the premiere of the ballet Alexander by composer Ljubomir Brangjolica. Borjan Canev has conducted in the USA, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Turkey, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kazakhstan. In addition to the National Philharmonic Orchestra, he has performed with a number of renowned orchestras such as London Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Arad Philharmonic Orchestra, Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Wagner Society Orchestra Tokyo, Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, Macedonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta - Sofia, Orchestra of the National Opera and Ballet in Skopje, Chamber Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales Macedonia, Chamber Orchestra "Skopje Soloists", Contemporary Music Ensemble "Alea", Croatian Chamber Orchestra, Zadar Chamber Orchestra and so on. He performed with renowned soloists such as: Ivo Pogorelich, Johannes Moser, Gautier Capucon, Sergei Nakariakov, Sayaka Shoji, Daniel Müller-Shott, Kirill Troussov, Sergio Tiempo, Ilya Gringolts, Akiko Suwanai, Simon Trpceski, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Zhang Zuo (Zee Zee), Tine Thing Helseth, Joseph Alessi, Stefan Milenkovic, Roman Simovic, David Garrett, Yuri Minenko, Stjepan Hauser, Kristof Barati, Monika Leskovar, Xavier Phillips, Janos Balint, Emmanuel Ceysson, Peter Lucas-Graf, Branimir Slokar, Antal Zalai, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Ana Durlovski and Blagoj Nacoski among many others. Borjan Canev has conducted at renowned festivals in his home country and abroad: Ohrid Summer, Skopje Summer, May Opera Evenings, Macedonian Music Days, George Enescu International Festival, NOMUS - Novi Sad, Zagreb Summer Evenings, Varna Summer, KotorArt - Montenegro, World of Music in Zagreb, etc. He has made recordings for Macedonian Radio and Television, Bulgarian National Radio and for the FAMES project in North Macedonia.