BORISLAV BONTCHEV
Born in Bulgaria , Borislav Bontchev entered the Music High School in Rousse in 1989 to study music and specialize in music performance with his chosen instrument the French horn.
In 1994 he attended the Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria, where as a member of The Academy of music chamber orchestra he performed in Greece, Finland and Austria. He was also making appearances as a soloist in Mozart’s horn concertos with the Rousse Philharmonic orchestra. While at the Academy of Music in Sofia, Borislav recorded woodwind quintet music for broadcast on the Bulgarian National Television and a variety of film music. During his studies in Bulgaria, he attended many chamber music workshops in Austria and worked with Prof. Hans Pizka /principal horn of Munich opera/ and professors from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany.
In 1995 Borislav won the audition to play with the European Youth Orchestra of Nations, with whom he toured Europe and recorded a CD of Mahler’s 2nd symphony. At “A summer in Varna”-International Festival he was featured in master class with world famous horn player Hermann Baumann and was chosen to perform Rossinis’s “Theme and Variations” in the final concert.
In 1997 Borislav won a chamber music bursary to study at the European Mozart Academy, where he studied with Volker Altman (Vienna Philharmonic) and Andre Cazale(principal horn, Paris Philharmonic).He also took part in several major European festivals, including Prague, Warsaw and Venice. In 1997 Borislav was fortunate enough to obtain a UNESCO annual award bursary to participate at the Banff Center for the Arts for fall and winter residency. While at the Banff Center he performed with Carol Winsen, Froides Ree Wekre, David Hoyt and Lorans Lesser. Since Borislav decided to immigrate to Canada he studied at the University of Calgary.
He received numerous scholarships and played first horn in the U of C wind ensemble and the U of C chamber orchestra. With the U of C wind ensemble under the direction of Dr. Glen Prize he toured California and recorded a CD. During his studies he won the annual Concerto competition twice and was a soloist in Mozart’s 3rd and 4th horn concertos with the U of C chamber orchestra. While at the U of C Borislav played with Edmond Agopian and recorded a CD with Prof.Donald Bell and Prof. Patricia Jewell with music by the Calgarian based composer Quenteen Doolittle. Borislav was also featured as a soloist with the “Mountain view” chamber music series. In the Winter of ‘00 Borislav was invited to be the French Horn instructor at the 10th Youth Orchestra Summit in Banff. In the summer of 2002 he completed a season with the National Academy orchestra under the direction of Boris Brott. Borislav has also held the position of 3 rd and assistant principal horn with the Saskatoon symphony orchestra.
As a freelancer he has played as an assistant principal horn with the Calgary Philharmonic , Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Alberta Ballet, Red Deer and Lethbridge