PIONEER YOUTH PHILHARMONIC was founded in 1952 by the great Bulgarian conductor Prof. Vladi Simeonov. Over the years the orchestra gained worldwide popularity and became an emblem of Bulgarian culture. The ensemble has had dozens of tours in Europe, North and South America. In 1979 the young musicians had a chance meeting with Leonard Bernstein, who conducted a rehearsal in New York and wrote afterwards. “This is not a orchestra. “Pioneer” – this the height of civilization!”.
The Pioneer Youth Philharmonic was disbanded in 2003, but in 2008 it was restored thanks to former musicians who founded the Prof. Vladi Simeonov Foundation – Miodrag Mišić, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Peshev, Tatiana Doncheva, Vesela Gospodinova, Prof. Vladislav Grigorov, Boris Spasov, etc. Again, the orchestra was affiliated to the National Palace of Children as it was when it was founded – then to the Palace of Pioneers.
In 2009 the Pioneer Youth Philharmonic participated in the International Music Festival of Youth Orchestras “Euroorchestras” in France under the baton of Mo. Boris Spasov. Since 2010 the conductor of the orchestra is Lyubomir Denev Jr. The ensemble participates every year in the Sofia Music Weeks International Festival, regularly performs in the Varna Summer Festival, and in 2010 and 2011 participated in the Constantinus Festival in Nis, Serbia. In the following years, the Pioneer Youth Philharmonic toured Hungary, Turkey and Greece, in 2016 it participated in the prestigious Young Euro Classic Festival in Konzerthus – Berlin, and in 2022 it presented itself with the tour “Back to Vienna”, giving concerts in Minoritenkirche, Musikverein and Muth. A memorable encounter was the meeting of the Pioneer Youth Philharmonic with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Amsterdam in 2018, when the young musicians played in the project “Side by Side” with the famous orchestra in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia under the baton of Daniele Gatti.
The Pioneer Youth Philharmonic has been awarded a number of prizes, including the Crystal Lyre in the Symphony Orchestra category (2016), the Ministry of Culture Award (2022) and the Musician of the Year Award of the Bulgarian National Radio in the Ensembles category (2023).
The Pioneer Youth Philharmonic is an orchestra where young musicians develop their ensemble skills and prepare for professional symphony orchestras in the country and around the world.