Rossen Milanov

A sought-after guest conductor on the international music scene, Rossen Milanov has been hailed as "one who bears watching by anyone who cares about the future of music" (Chicago Tribune). He currently holds the positions of associate conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and artistic director of The Philadelphia Orchestra at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, Mr. Milanov serves as music director of New Jersey's Symphony in C (formerly Haddonfield Symphony), one of America's premier professional training orchestras; music director of the New Symphony Orchestra in his native city of Sofia, Bulgaria; and chief conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony.

Mr. Milanov began his association with The Philadelphia Orchestra as assistant conductor in 2000 and was promoted to associate conductor four years later. In this role, he leads the Orchestra in subscription, family, educational, community, and holiday concerts. In March 2006, Mr. Milanov was named artistic director of the Orchestra's summer series at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. In July 2007, he led the Orchestra in two performances during its first residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Vail, Colorado.

During the 2007-08 season, Mr. Milanov debuts with the Seattle Symphony, the Royal Scottish Philharmonic, and the Australian Youth Symphony. He has return engagements with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Slovenian National Radio Orchestra, and the Curtis Opera Theatre. In addition, he leads the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in a new double bill production of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Petrushka with the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. Mr. Milanov also conducts the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra in a European tour. The tour stops in Munich, Dortmund, Valladolid, and at Amsterdam?s Concertgebouw, and features acclaimed Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova.

With The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Milanov's recent concert highlights have included critically acclaimed concerts on the Orchestra's summer series at the Mann Center; subscription performances of Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Elgar's "Enigma" Variations; Adams's Violin Concerto and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15; a highly-praised production of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale; and the world premiere of Nicholas Maw's English Horn Concerto.

Mr. Milanov has led concerts and tours with the Aspen Festival, the Auckland Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Colorado Symphony, the Curtis Opera Theatre, the Duluth-Superior Symphony, the Festival Orchestra of the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Honolulu Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Juilliard Opera Center, the Lucerne Symphony, the National Orchestra of Colombia, the National Orchestra of Mexico, the New World Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra of the Hague in the Netherlands, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic, the Slovenia National Radio and Television Orchestra, the Syracuse Symphony, the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, and the Virginia Symphony. He was music director of the Chicago Youth Symphony from 1997 to 2001, and he has participated in numerous summer festivals, including Tanglewood and the Interlochen Arts Festival. His recording of works by the Russian composer Alla Pavlova with the Moscow Philharmonic is available on the Naxos label.

Mr. Milanov retains a close association with his native city of Sofia in Bulgaria. As music director of the New Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Europe?s first privately funded orchestra, his work has included commissions and premieres of new works, the introduction of American music to Bulgarian audiences, Musorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death with the legendary Bulgarian bass Nikolai Ghiaurov, and several recordings. In the 2005-06 season, Mr. Milanov led a tribute to Shostakovich, honoring the 100th anniversary of the composer?s birth. Currently he is in the midst of leading a multi-year Mahler cycle with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony. Mr. Milanov has received the Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Bulgarian Culture, awarded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. In 2005 he was chosen as Bulgaria's Musician of the Year.

Mr. Milanov studied conducting at the Juilliard School (recipient of the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship), the Curtis Institute of Music, Duquesne University, and the Bulgarian National Academy of Music.