Georgi Dimitrov

The eminent Bulgarian conductor Georgi Dimitrov graduated from the National Academy of Music, then the Bulgarian State Conservatory, in Sofia, where he studied orchestral conducting with Prof. Vladi Simeonov and violin with Prof. Mikhail Balkanski. He later specialized in St. Petersburg under Yevgeny Mravinsky and Arvid Jansons.

In 1972, Dimitrov was appointed conductor of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1981 onward, he served as Principal Conductor and Director of the State Opera Ruse, and also conducted at the Sofia Opera.

From 1990 to 1995, he directed the San Marino Symphony Orchestra and was awarded the Republic’s highest distinction, the title of Cavaliere dell’Ordine di Sant’Agata.

From the 1995/1996 season, Georgi Dimitrov served as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. As conductor of the Plovdiv Opera and Philharmonic Society, he led numerous projects and tours of the ensemble in Bulgaria and abroad, including its participation in the opening ceremony of the European Month of Culture in Plovdiv in 1999, which was broadcast live on Eurovision.

From 2000, Georgi Dimitrov was Artistic Director of the Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society. From 2005 to 2009, he directed the Plovdiv Opera and Philharmonic Society. From 2009, he served as conductor of the Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society. Since 2013, he has been working as a freelance conductor.

Maestro Dimitrov has conducted all Bulgarian orchestras and has appeared as a guest conductor in Russia, Romania, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere.

His impressive repertoire includes symphonic, operatic, cantata, and oratorio works. Particularly noteworthy are his performances of works by Bulgarian composers such as Konstantin Iliev, Simeon Pironkov, Lazar Nikolov, Krassimir Kurkchiyski, Georgi Arnaudov, and others.

Among his most notable interpretations are Verdi’s Nabucco, Aida, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, Otello, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, and Il Trovatore, Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca, Bellini’s Norma, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Lucia di Lammermoor, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, and Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades.

He is also frequently invited to serve as a jury member at international competitions and regularly gives conducting masterclasses.