biography
Heralded by critics as “a musician of real depth, sensitivity and authority,” Danail Rachev is currently in his fourth season as music director and conductor of the Eugene Symphony, a title that has previously been held by conductors Marin Alsop, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Giancarlo Guerrero. During the 2012-2013 season, he will return to England’s Bournemouth Symphony, debut with the Tucson and Edmonton symphonies, and lead a tour with Het Gelders Orkest in Holland. The 2011-2012 season featured a return to the London Philharmonic and debuts with Turkey's Presidential Symphony and the symphonies of Richmond, Spokane, and Alabama, where he has already been re-engaged.
His worldwide engagements include returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, as well as appearances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Nacional do Porto, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which he will lead on tour in Summer 2013. Rachev has led concerts in the United States with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphonies of Dallas, Baltimore, Nashville, and Grand Rapids, as well as the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and others. Rachev has collaborated with celebrated soloists including Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Angela Hewitt, Midori, Garrick Ohlsson, Itzhak Perlman, and André Watts.
Rachev was Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2008-2010 and the Dallas Symphony from 2005-2008, where he led numerous public concerts and education programs. Of his subscription series debut the Dallas Morning News wrote: "One of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's best concerts of the past year....start to finish, assistant conductor Danail Rachev got the music unfailingly right, and viscerally compelling."
In 2002-2003 Rachev was the first ever Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony where he studied with Michael Tilson Thomas and worked alongside him on many occasions. His debut and subsequent appearances in subscription, family, and chamber music concerts there were met with consistent critical acclaim. Previously Rachev served as conductor of the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, where he mentored young musicians who continued to the finest conservatories worldwide. He has also served on the faculties of the Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia and the Varna Music Academy in his native Bulgaria. In Bulgaria Rachev has worked with several ensembles including the Russe State Opera, where he led performances of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Danail Rachev was born in Shumen, Bulgaria and trained at the State Musical Academy in Sofia, receiving degrees in orchestral and choral conducting. He moved to the United States to study at the Peabody Conservatory on a full scholarship, graduating in 2001. Rachev was an academy conductor for the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and a participant in the League of American Orchestra's National Conducting Institute, which led to his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra. His conducting teachers have included Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas, Vassil Kazandjiev, David Zinman, and Leonard Slatkin. Rachev resides in Philadelphia and Eugene with his wife and young daughter.
His worldwide engagements include returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, as well as appearances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Nacional do Porto, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which he will lead on tour in Summer 2013. Rachev has led concerts in the United States with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphonies of Dallas, Baltimore, Nashville, and Grand Rapids, as well as the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and others. Rachev has collaborated with celebrated soloists including Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Angela Hewitt, Midori, Garrick Ohlsson, Itzhak Perlman, and André Watts.
Rachev was Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2008-2010 and the Dallas Symphony from 2005-2008, where he led numerous public concerts and education programs. Of his subscription series debut the Dallas Morning News wrote: "One of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's best concerts of the past year....start to finish, assistant conductor Danail Rachev got the music unfailingly right, and viscerally compelling."
In 2002-2003 Rachev was the first ever Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony where he studied with Michael Tilson Thomas and worked alongside him on many occasions. His debut and subsequent appearances in subscription, family, and chamber music concerts there were met with consistent critical acclaim. Previously Rachev served as conductor of the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, where he mentored young musicians who continued to the finest conservatories worldwide. He has also served on the faculties of the Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia and the Varna Music Academy in his native Bulgaria. In Bulgaria Rachev has worked with several ensembles including the Russe State Opera, where he led performances of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Danail Rachev was born in Shumen, Bulgaria and trained at the State Musical Academy in Sofia, receiving degrees in orchestral and choral conducting. He moved to the United States to study at the Peabody Conservatory on a full scholarship, graduating in 2001. Rachev was an academy conductor for the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and a participant in the League of American Orchestra's National Conducting Institute, which led to his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra. His conducting teachers have included Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas, Vassil Kazandjiev, David Zinman, and Leonard Slatkin. Rachev resides in Philadelphia and Eugene with his wife and young daughter.
