Simon Trpčeski, Piano
Simon Trpčeski has been praised as much for his powerful virtuosity and deeply expressive approach as for his charismatic stage presence. Launched onto the international scene twenty years ago as a BBC New-Generation Artist, in an incredibly fast-paced career unhindered by cultural or musical boundaries, Simon Trpčeski has collaborated with over a hundred orchestras on four continents, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsche Sinfonie Orchester Berlin and Dresden Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Russian National Orchestra, Teatro Colon, while In North America, he is a frequent soloist with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Los Angeles and New-York Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, Seattle, and Baltimore Symphonies. Further afield, he has performed with the New Japan, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Seoul, and Hong Kong Philharmonics, and the Sydney, Melbourne, and New Zealand Symphonies.
A much sought-after soloist, the long list of prominent conductors Simon Trpčeski has worked with includes Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Cristian Măcelaru, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Charles Dutoit, Jakob Hrusa, Vladimir Jurowski, Susanna Malkki, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pappano, Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gabriel Bebeșelea and David Zinman. His long-standing relationship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, further strengthened during the tenure of Vasily Petrenko, produced a large discography. Together they recorded the pillars of the Russian piano repertoire: Rachmaninov complete works for piano and orchestra for Avie, the two Tchaikovsky piano concertos and the Prokofiev piano concertos no. 1 and 3 for Onyx Classics. He also recorded the Shostakovich piano concertos with Cristian Măcelaru for Linn Records.
In 2023-24, Simon Trpčeski will be Artist in Residence with both the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. The Scottish residency will focus on Saint-Saens with performances of his piano concertos no.2 and 5 with Thomas Søndergård, also to be recorded for Linn Records. Launching the release of his Brahms concerto album in November, he will reunite with Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra for performances of both concertos in the same week at the Barbican. Travelling to four continents, other collaborations this season include returns to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seattle and Detroit Symphony orchestras in the US, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic.
An acclaimed recitalist, Simon Trpčeski has performed in major halls in cities including New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Istanbul, Dublin, and Tokyo. Since his debut at Wigmore Hall in 2001, he has remained a regular guest of this prestigious venue, including a Residency in 2018, with two recitals released on the Wigmore Live label. The 2023-24 season will see Simon Trpčeski open the SWR2 Internationale Pianisten in Mainz, and includes recitals in Milan, Geneva, Monte-Carlo, Edinburgh, Glasgow. He is also an avid chamber musician, performing regularly at many prestigious festivals. In 2022, he embarked in a series of recitals with violinist Maxim Vengerov; together they have performed at the Barbican in London, Carnegie Hall in New-York and the Paris Philharmonie.
A natural music explorer, Simon Trpčeski is also committed to strengthening the cultural image of his native Macedonia. His chamber music project MAKEDONISSIMO is dedicated to introducing audiences world-wide to the rich traditional Macedonian folk roots. With the collaboration of composer Pande Shahov, it weaves into one unique sound world the Macedonian folk music tradition with highly virtuous, jazz-influenced riffs and harmonies. Since its successful premiere in 2017, the project has travelled to most European countries, the USA, Canada and South Korea, with a high praised Linn Records Album release. In 2023, MAKEDONISSIMO opened a new chapter, with Concerto MAKEDONISSIMO, a concertante version premiered with the Tonkünstler Orchestra and Yutaka Sado at the Musikverein in Vienna.
Simon Trpčeski’s fruitful collaborations with EMI Classics, Avie Records, Wigmore Hall Live, Onyx Classics and currently Linn Records has resulted in a broad and award-winning discography which includes repertoire such as Rachmaninov complete works for piano and orchestra, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich piano concertos. He has also recorded accoladed albums with music of composers such as Chopin, Bach, Schubert, Poulenc, Debussy, Ravel, Liszt, Stravinsky, Scriabin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov. His most recent recital album “Variations”, a solo album of works by Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart, released in 2022, was critically acclaimed throughout Europe and was CD of the month in Fono Forum (Germany), Editor’s Choice in Gramophone (UK), Choc de Classica (France) and Amadeus D’ore (Italy).
With the special support of KulturOp – Macedonia’s cultural and arts organization – Simon Trpčeski, having been a professor for 11 years at the Faculty of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, works regularly with young musicians in Macedonia nurturing the talent of the next generation of artists, as well as for the promotion and affirmation of the Macedonian music and of classical music in general, giving masterclasses worldwide. His diverse interests find him as a composer of several successful artistic pop songs and songs for children. In 2009, he received the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, a decoration given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad. In 2011, he became the first-ever recipient of the title “National Artist of Macedonia”.
Born in Macedonia in 1979, Simon Trpčeski is a graduate of the Faculty of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Prof. Boris Romanov. He was BBC New Generation Artist 2001-2003 and in 2003, was honored with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society.