Milen Nachev is a Bulgarian/American conductor, his conducting style was charged with energy. Every motion was both dramatic and expressive.
He was Principal Guest Conductor of the Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was also Artistic Director of International Symphonic & Opera Workshops, Ltd., Music Director & Conductor of Belgrade Radio & Television Symphony Orchestra (Serbia), and Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Balkan Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1989, Nachev was appointed Principal Conductor, Artistic Director and General Manager of the Rousse State Opera Theatre in Bulgaria. Following that, he was invited as a Conductor of Sofia National Opera and Ballet Theatre too. He also worked as a Principal Conductor of Sofia Youth Orchestra and Professor of Conducting at the Bulgarian State Conservatory.
This fall Milen Nachev will become part of Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra’s grandest tour yet, spanning 17 cities, including debuts in Japan and Taiwan, as well as a go back to Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
He was born into an artistic family in Bulgaria in 1957; made his debut as a pianist at the age of five. He attended the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. There, he received his Master’s Degree in Symphonic and Opera conducting. Milen Nachev is recognized throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia, and also North and South America, for his strong musicality, his excellent conducting technique, his stylistic faithfulness, and for the richness of his extensive repertoire.
In November 1997, EMI/Virgin released the CD ‘Mozart in Egypt’, which was conducted by Nachev while with the BNR Symphony Orchestra. The disc is now being sold in over 35 countries. In 2011, he was an International Opera Masterclass Artistic Director and Faculty Professor with the Great Music Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Mr. Nachev was Artistic Director & Conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra (BNR) for eight years, from 1994 until 2002. During his tenure with BNR Symphony Orchestra, Nachev made many critically acclaimed recordings, broadcasted by the BBC– Radio 3, Mezzo TV and Radio France all over the world, and available on EMI/Virgin Classic, Albany Records, Amazon.com, Buy.com, CD Universe.com, and Gega New. Nachev and the BNR Symphony Orchestra had multiple concert tours in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Belgium, and many mores.
Interview with Shen Yun’s Conductor Milen Nachev
In the interview, with the Conductor of the Shen Yun orchestra, Milen Nachev; we see his early rising in to music from taking piano lessons all the way to being apprenticed by renowned leaders in music. He initially talks about being taken by his grandmother to his first piano lesson at the age of 5 and falling in love with music. He then talks about being able to deal with complex situations being a strong suit in his conductor experience.
Key Takeaways:
- Conductor Milen Nachev’s storied career has taken him from home piano lessons in Bulgaria to mentorship with the most renowned teachers of the day in Russia to the United States and Carnegie Hall.
- at the age of 9, Milen Nachev found incredible pleasure conducting Brahms Symphony Number 4 at home
- There is a saying: “Music starts where words end.”
“If I were to compare our Shen Yun orchestra with other orchestras, I would say that in Shen Yun we are not just performing music, playing notes and tunes. We go deep inside the meaning of the music, even past the emotional side—most orchestras go to the emotional side, but we go beyond that—to illustrate the deeper meaning.”
