Simon Trpčeski

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, he has collaborated with over a hundred orchestras on four continents, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tonhalle Zurich, Deutsche Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Radio Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, and Elphilharmonie Orchestra, 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. In South America he has built a relationship with the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón, and further afield, he has performed with the NHK Symphony, New Japan, Seoul, and Hong Kong Philharmonics, and the Sydney, Melbourne, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras.

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. A long-standong collaboration with Vassily Petrenko has produced a large discography; together with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, they recorded the pillars of the Russian piano repertoire: all Rachmaninov piano concertos for Avie and Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev piano concertos for Onyx Classics. With Cristian Mǎcelaru, for Linn Records he recorded both Shostakovich concertos, while their latest collaboration, the Brahms concertos with WDR SinfonieOrchester was released to great critical acclaim in 2023. During the 2023-24 season, as Artist in Residence with Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Simon Trpčeski recorded his latest album for Linn Records which will feature Saint-Saens concertos no.2 and 5 conducted by Thomas Søndergård scheduled for release in the spring of 2025.

The 2024-25 Season will see Simon Trpčeski open the season of Düsseldorf Symphoniker with Alpesh Chauhan, while other highlights include reunions with regular partners: Vasily Petrenko with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Cristian Mǎcelaru and the Baltimore Symphony , Gianandrea Noseda and the Zurich Philharmonia, as well as a return to Chicago Symphony with Jakub Hrůša.

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. His natural affinity with Russian composers of the 19th and 20th century is featured in seven recital albums, presenting works by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. He has also recorded the music of Chopin, Brahms, Poulenc, Bach, Liszt and Debussy. His most recent recital album “Variations” 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).

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 virtuos, jazz-influenced riffs and harmonies. Since its successful premiere in 2018, the project has travelled to most European countries, the USA, Canada and South Korea. In 2023, Makedonissimo opened a new chapter,with Concerto Makedonissimo, a concertante version premiered with the Tonkünstler Orchestra and Yutaka Sado at the Musiekverein in Vienna.

With the special support of KulturOp – Macedonia’s cultural and arts organization – Simon Trpčeski works regularly with young musicians in his home country, 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 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 School of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with 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.

Video

Rachmaninov: Concerto no.3

Chicago Symphony, Pablo Heras-Casado

Prokofiev: Concerto no.3

Helsinki Philharmonic, Susanna Malkki