About the Founders
Kiril Tarpov
Kiril Tarpov made his debut as a choral conductor in 1977 in the city of Vratsa, Bulgaria, where he worked with several choirs as conductor, chorus master, and assistant to Prof. Samuil Vidas, under whom he studied at the time.
After being admitted to the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia, where he studied Choral Conducting with Prof. Dimitar Ruskov, he also made his debut as an orchestral conductor and stage director with Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. In 1982, he organized his first festival "100 Years of Igor Stravinsky." During his years at the Academy, he conducted various choirs and founded the Collegium for 20th-Century Chamber Art, a chamber orchestra dedicated to contemporary repertoire.
Upon graduating in 1985, Tarpov moved to the town of Svilengrad, where, at his own initiative, he established the Svilengrad Choral School. Under his artistic leadership, the school developed into a comprehensive choral institution including a Little Children’s Choir, Boys' Choir, Children's Choir, Representative Children's Chamber Choir, High School Mixed Choir, Mixed City choir and specialized choral classes.
In 1989, he returned to his hometown of Plovdiv. In 1994, together with some of Bulgaria's most distinguished cultural figures, including Prof. Dr. Atanas Bozhkov, Prof. Georgi Kanev, and Prof. Alexander Tekeliev, together with his close friend George Zafirov, they became founders of The Jeunesse Musicale Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting young musicians and promoting Bulgarian musical culture.
Since 1999, Kiril Tarpov has lived and worked in New York, where he initiated numerous cultural exchange programs between Bulgaria and the United States. In 2001, he became a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and founded the Bulgarian-American choral forum Festival of Light, promoting artistic collaboration between the two countries.
Beginning in 2003, he organized the annual Bulgarian Seasons in New York Festival, showcasing Bulgarian music, visual arts, theatre, and culture to American audiences, most of the time performed by American actors and musicians. He also founded the Young Soloists of New York Chamber Orchestra, which performed at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space. The orchestra later evolved into the Young Soloists of New York Chamber Society, a foundation bringing together outstanding young musicians from the U.S. East Coast and collaborating with internationally acclaimed soloists from Europe.
From 2008 to 2011, Tarpov served as conductor and music educator within the American Charter School system. In 2011, after a competition he was appointed Executive Director of the Plovdiv 2019 Foundation, the organization responsible for preparing Plovdiv's successful European Capital of Culture programme.
He returned to the United States in 2013. Between 2014 and 2015, he served as conductor of the orchestra of Shen Yun Performing Arts and the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, leading performances in many of the most prestigious concert halls across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
In September 2016, Kiril Tarpov returned to Bulgaria and re-established the Svilengrad Choral School, where he continues to serve as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor.
Together with the Children's Choir of Svilengrad and conductors from across the country, he is among the founders of the Children's Choir of Bulgaria, a national initiative of Bulgarian Choral Union, uniting leading children's choirs.
In 2018 and again in 2021, he was elected to the Board of the Bulgarian Choral Union.
In 2021, Bulgarian National Radio honored Kiril Tarpov with the prestigious "Musician of the Year" Award in recognition of his Outstanding Creative Activity.
Throughout his career, Kiril Tarpov has dedicated his work to the development of choral music, the education of young musicians, and the promotion of Bulgarian musical culture on the international stage through conducting, teaching, festival organization, and cultural diplomacy.