Grigor Palikarov

Grigor Palikarov (born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1971) graduated from the National Music Academy - Sofia with Master of Music Degree in: Orchestral Conducting, Composition, Choral Conducting and Piano. Later on he continued his composition study during two Summer Academies in Austria with Prof. Erich Urbanner – Vienna.
In 1998-1999 season Grigor Palikarov made his debut on the stage of the National Opera and Ballet – Sofia. Since January 2001 Mr. Palikarov works as a full-time conductor there, performing a rich variety of repertoire with the famous Bulgarian singers Ghena Dimitrova, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Krassimira Stoyanova, Alexandrina Milcheva, Nadia Krasteva, Boiko Tzvetanov, Nickola Giuzelev etc.
Since the beginning of 2005/06 season Mr. Palikarov has also taken the position of General artistic manager and conductor of the Symphony orchestra – Pazardzhik and since September 2008 he is also the principal conductor of “Classic FM” Symphony orchestra – Sofia.
In the recent years he has made concerts with many famous soloists like the members of Vienna Philharmonic: Albena Danailova (concertmaster), Wolfgang Schulz, Franz Bartolomey, Dieter Flury, Robert Nagy, Svetlin Roussev (concertmaster of the French National Radio orchestra), Glenn Dicterow (former concertmaster of New York Philharmonic) and others.
Nowadays Mr. Palikarov is often invited as a guest – conductor of many orchestras, opera theatres and national and international music festivals in Bulgaria and abroad, including countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, FYROM, Greece, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Russia, UK, USA, South Korea etc. Grigor Palikarov also makes regular recordings as a guest conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio. Some of his recordings can be found on CDs and DVDs produced by different companies.
Together with his conducting activities Mr. Palikarov composes music and plays as a piano soloist with different orchestras in Bulgaria. Mr. Palikarov is a prizewinner of many national and international piano and composition competitions. Some of his works were performed at music festivals and recorded at the National Radio - Sofia.