Peter Kerkelov (b. 1984) is a Bulgarian composer born in Plovdiv to a Russian mother and a Bulgarian father, who resides in Greece.
He holds a PhD degree in Ethnomusicology from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Master’s degree in composition from Royal Conservatoire, The Hague where he studied under Martijn Padding and Guus Janssen, as well Master’s in composition from Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts (AMDFA), Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where his teacher was prof. Dimitar Tapkoff. From AMDFA he has also a Bachelor degree in classical guitar and music pedagogy with teachers Milena and Valentin Valchev. In 2006-2007, as an exchange student he studied composition under prof. Dan Dediu in National University of Music, Bucharest, Romania.
Selected for masterclasses with Louis Andriessen, David Lang and Kaija Saariaho
In 2018-2019, commission by State Opera-Plovdiv to write ‘The Pied Piper and the Cars‘ – Music theater-Ballet for children for soprano, bass, two choirs, wind instruments, percussion and electronics. On libretto by Dragomir Yossifov based on self-titled story by Gianni Rodari. Staged
by the Russian choreographer Liliya Burdinskaya.
In 2015, he wrote ‘Time Etudes‘ for orchestra, two choirs and voice solo, originally commissioned by Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France later on to be commissioned by Bulgarian National Radio. In 2017 he was commissioned by Apollonia Festival of Arts to compose ‘Windows and Oranges‘ for accordion and string orchestra. The piece was premiered by Krassimir Sterev (KLANGFORUM Wien) and Chamber Ensemble Sofia Soloists under Plamen Djouroff.
The string quartet ‘Two Symphonies and Postumus‘ was commissioned by the Dutch Chamber Music Society on its 100th Anniversary, and was written for Ruysdael Kwartet, who premiered the work. In 2011, he composed ‘Attempt at Screaming‘ for ASKO/Schoenberg Ensemble.
As a part of 2010 “New York comes to The Hague” project, he wrote ‘HORO‘ for Bang on a CanAll Stars.
In 2012, Kerkelov won 59th International Rostrum of Composers in Stockholm in “under 30” category with “Attempt at Screaming”. In 2016, his ‘Time Etudes‘ received “Top 10 recommended work” in “General” category at 63rd International Rostrum of Composers in Wroclaw.
Peter Kerkelov is Lead Research Assistant in Ethnomusicology at Institute of Art Studies in Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Previously he was appointed as a teacher in Counterpoint and Orchestration at AMDFA and served as “expert stage activity” and music score librarian at State Opera-Plovdiv. Prior to that, he was appointed as a classical guitar teacher at National School of Music and Dance Arts “Dobrin Petkov”, Plovdiv.
Previous projects include commissions by Trio Imàge (Berlin), Ensemble CRUSH (Germany), State Opera-Plovdiv, ppIANISSIMO Festival, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Bulgarian National Radio, Dutch Chamber Music Society, Royal Conservatoire-The Hague among others.
Kerkelov’s music has been performed in Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and the USA in distinguished venues such as Konzerthaus Wien, Gaudeamus Music Week, BOZAR Brussels, Teatro Massimo-Palermo in performances by Asko/Schoenberg Ensemble, “Bang on a Can All-Stars”, Ensemble PHACE (Austria), Ensemble “Musica Nova-Sofia”, Sofia
Soloists with Krassimir Sterev, Ruysdael Kwartet (The Netherlands), Antonii Baryshevskyi (Ukraine), Hayk Melikyan (Armenia) among others.