Nayden Todorov

Nayden Todorov is one of contemporary Bulgaria's most prominent musicians. He has had an exceptionally varied career internationally; among his many international activities are appearances as a conductor of film scores and crossover projects. Todorov was born on April 8, 1974, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He took up the piano at five and aimed for the first part of his education toward a career as a pianist or a trumpeter. In his teens, he took up conducting, studying with Plovdiv Opera conductor Krastyu Marev and taking inspiration from composer Alexander Vladigerov and conductor Karl Österreicher. In 1990, Todorov founded the Plovdiv Youth Orchestra and toured with it around Eastern and Central Europe. Todorov made his major-orchestra debut with the Vratza Philharmonic in 1993, continuing to take conducting courses of various kinds at the University of Vienna. Just 21, he became the Vratza Philharmonic's principal conductor in 1995, moving on in the late 1990s to the Vidin Philharmonic. During this period, Todorov also studied conducting with Mendi Rodan in Israel and played trumpet in the Jerusalem Symphony. He founded Bulgaria's Thracia Summer Festival in 1997. Todorov became the permanent conductor of the North Israeli Symphony Orchestra in 1998. In 2000, he was named chief conductor of the Plovdiv Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra, making his operatic and ballet debuts soon after. Todorov met Hollywood film composer Jerry Goldsmith in the late 1990s and went on to conduct frequent concerts of film music including an annual event in Munich in the 2010s and a 2019 tour of China featuring music of the Star Wars films. He directed operas in the U.S. at Grand Opera Wichita beginning in 2005. Todorov has made guest appearances with orchestras on four continents. From 2005 to 2017, he served as director of the State Opera in Ruse, Bulgaria, moving from there to the directorship of the Sofia Philharmonic, Bulgaria's premier symphonic ensemble. Todorov has made several hundred recordings for the MMO (Music Minus One) label. In the realm of complete scores, he has recorded for the DanaCord, Hungaroton, and Naxos labels; for the latter, he issued a recording of Vladigerov's Bulgarian Suite in 2019.
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