Theodosii Spassov - "Slow Melody" Santorini - 1991

Kaval -- Bulgarian wooden flute Theodosii Spassov was born on March 4th, 1961. He began his early training on the kaval at the Kotel Music School and The Academy of Music and Dance in Plovdiv/Bulgaria. The kaval, an eight-hole wooden "shepherd" flute, is one of the oldest Instruments in Europe, rich in tone and technical possibilities. Theodosii Spassov has developed his own unique style of playing the instrument by synthesizing traditional folklore with jazz, fusion and classical music. For over 20 years, Theodosii has toured all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and United States. In 1994, he performed with Sofia Women's Radio Choir which was awarded with a Grammy award for "Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares". In April of 1995, "Newsweek" magazine recognized Theodosii Spassov as one of the most talented Eastern-European musicians in its "best of the East" article, noting that "Spassov... is not merely surviving the post-communist cultural wasteland. He has actually invented a new musical genre." Theodosii Spassov has contributed to 20 CDs, four of his own, which have been noted worldwide. He has composed and performed numerous film scores including a French-Bulgarian feature film "Granitza", ("The Border") 1993. Also he recorded themes for films by Italian composers Carlos Siliotto and Ennio Morricone, entitled "An Italian Story" and "The Breakout of the Innocent". At the fourth European Jazz Night, Theodosii Spassov was a featured performer along with other jazz musicians, including Winton Marsalis. At home in Bulgaria, Theodosii Spassov is national figure and musical hero, and was recently honored with the"Music Artist of the Year" award. He is the Artistic Director of the world-renown "PHILIP KOUTEV Ensemble Of Music, Drama And Dance". Theodosii is currently member of the company of the Irish music and dance "Riverdance"-(1998-2001). Now hi is a soloist of Bulgarian National Radio. Training: The Music School in Kotel The Academy of Music and Dance in Plovdiv Fellow artists he worked with: Jazz Linia, "Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares", Trio "Bulgarka", National Radio Sofia Orchestras, Ivo Papazov, Yldiz Ibrahimova, Vesselin Nikolov, Milcho Leviev, Acoustic Version, Dave Liebman, Dimitrios Vassilakis, Andy Sheppard, Jamey Haddad, Albert Mangelsdorf, Mark Johnson, Trilok Gurtu, Kazumi Watanabe, Glen Velez, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Matt Darriau, Boyan Zulfikarpasic, Dionisis Savopulos, Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, Billy Cobham, Ennio Morricone Concerts as a soloist in: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Israel, Japan, Nepal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S.. American national tour: "Riverdance"- Irish music and dance extravaganza 1998-2001 Awards: The Special Prize of Detroit Flute Festival, 1994 The International Academy of Arts in Paris Award, 1996 "Music Artist of the Year" at the National Music Awards, 1997 and 2002 Apollo Toxophoros for sparkling contribution to Bulgarian music, 2001 National Film Centre Annual Awards-"Best film music composer", 2006 "Artist Of Salon Des Arts" , 2007 "Dobri Chintulov" for culture activity, 2009 "Golden Age" for contribution to Bulgarian culture, 2011