Recently the Big Band of the Bulgarian National Radio with conductor Antoni Donchev has been rehearsing for an impressive program. We will hear it on November 14, presented in the Studio 1 of the BNR. The composer, whose works will be presented by the band, is Vasil Spasov – a prominent jazz pianist. He is famous not only in Bulgaria but has also performed on club and festival stages in the USA, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Romania, Greece, Serbia, China and more. He is currently working as a pianist and leader of the Funkallero band, also playing in the Mihail Yossifov Sextet, the Call of the Wild formation with singer Militsa Gladnishka and is part of the RomaNeno Project. He has been collaborating with the BNR Big Band for 15 years as a performer, composer and arranger.

“People will hear two new works, one of which I wrote especially for this concert,” Vasil Spassov says. “It's called Gone Through and this will be its world premiere. The rest of the works have also been written over the years especially for the BNR Big Band. I have also included an arrangement of an emblematic composition by flute player Simeon Shterev - Banana, who is a very important person in my professional development. Antoni Donchev – the conductor of this wonderful orchestra also owes a lot to Simeon Shterev. So, we start this concert with his play and our memories. I made an arrangement of Rhodopology – the author is saxophonist Dimitar Liolev, one of the band's soloists. I feel great working with the musicians of the BNR Big Band. This was the first time I had performed as a conductor of the band. I have worked together with most of the musicians on different projects so I don't even feel the usual anxiety. For this concert, I insisted to be a soloist and composer, not a conductor. I rely entirely on Antoni Donchev as the leader of the band. In my opinion, the Big Band sounds completely different and much better when under the baton of this wonderful musician.”

Everyone who has known Vasil Spasov since his debut in 1988 (as a soloist of the formation with leader Simeon Shterev - Banana) knows that at the beginning of his jazz career he played the trombone.

“I graduated from the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music and Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, but when I went to specialization at Berklee College of Music I finished jazz piano, jazz composition and film music composing. I have loved working with big bands since I was at Berklee Music College. And the piano has always been my primary instrument, even though I performed more often as a trombone player. I sometimes joke that I did not even have the right to choose – my mother, Dimitrinka Marinova-Spasova, was a pianist known for her wonderful interpretations of Chopin's works. My grandmother and great-grandmother were also pianists. So I'm the fourth generation of pianists. I am very grateful for this music heritage.”

English: Alexander Markov