Bozhidar Spasov

Born in Sofia, Bozhidar Spasov (b. 1949) went to Moscow to study music, graduating in composition from the Moscow Conservatory in 1975 where he studied, among others, with Edison Denisov. He then became a research associate with the Musicology Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Between 1986 and 1988, he attended the Darmstadt holiday courses (Darmstädter Ferienkurse) for contemporary music. In 1990, he moved to Germany, where he has since worked as a freelance composer and as a lecturer at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. His music shows an awareness of contemporary trends, such as the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio; he takes much of his inspiration from medieval texts. Among his works are two chamber opera-ballets, 1975's The Bewitched and The Princess and the Swineherd of 1980.