Krassimir TASKOV (born 1955) is among the mostactive Bulgarian composers, pianists, and pedagogues of his generation. He graduated with honors from the Sofia Music High Schooland the State Music Academy "Prof. PanchoVladigerov." He concertized extensivelyas a student, and received prizes at international piano competitions in Moscow(Tchaikovsky, 1978) and Spain(Santander, 1978) . After completing degrees in piano (1981) andcomposition (1984), he participated in a series of international seminars forcomposers organized by UNESCO in Bulgaria and Holland and attended thecomposition classes of Ton de Leeuw and Theo Loevendie (Holland), Anatol Vieru(Romania), Andrei Eshpai (Russia), Marin Goleminov and Dimitar Hristov(Bulgaria).
During the period 1985-9, Taskov was the chairman of theyoung composers' section of the Union of Bulgarian Composers. He has over twenty years of teachingexperience at the Music Academy,where he has chaired the composition department since 1999 and has been a fullProfessor of Composition since 2002. Hisongoing performance activity includes collaborations with such distinguishedBulgarian musicians .
Krassimir Taskov has written compositions for a variety ofperformance mediums. For symphonyorchestra: Concert Overture (1985), Capriccio (1988), TransformationIV (1997), Celebration (2003), Pantomime (2005), and Concertosfor violin (1992-3), oboe (1994-5), clarinet (No. 2, 2002), and piano (2005).Manyworks for chamber and solo instrumental music as Night Music for clarinet,piano and percussion (1987), Three Contrasts for trombone and piano(1993), Nava Trio for flute, viola and harp (1998), Three Picturesafter Edward Munch for string quartet (2000), Pezzo diafonico for two cellos (2002), Dithyrambs II for nine performers(2003), Ceremony for two pianos eight-hands and percussion (2004).
His works have been singled out for prizes in prestigiousinternational and national competitions. In 1984 the piano cycle Archaic Pictures was among the piecesrecommended by the UNESCO International Tribunal of Composers in Paris. His piano works Fantasia (1991), Triptychfor two pianos (1995), Mutuality (1999),and Ceremony fortwo pianos and percussion (2005) earned him prizes in the compositioncompetition in Tokyo. He was the winner of the first prize in the2002 "7/8" in Plovdiv for his Concerto No. 2 for clarinet andorchestra, and in 2005 won the Elias Canetti National Competition with hisorchestral piece The Deceitful Orator. His music has been performed with success in Germany,Japan, France,Italy, Russia,the United States,and elsewhere. In 2003 his Transformation II for two pianos wasnominated to be performed at the World Music Days in Slovenia. More than twenty of his compositions havebeen printed by various publishing houses in Sofia (Muzika, Elm, and UBC), Moscow(Muzika), Paris (J. Billoudot), and in Canada(Vox Bulgarica).
He carryout very activity as solo and chambermusic performer.