MEET THE LECTURERS
Jean-Baptiste
Leclère
orchestra playing
contemporary repertoire
Jean-Baptiste Leclère has been holding a position as Principal Percussion solo in the Opéra National de Paris Orchestra since 2013, after being successfully accepted as an Associated
Principal Percussion in 2007.
He studied percussions with Daniel Sauvage, then Michel Gastaud before joining the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in 2005 in Michel Cerutti, Florent Jodelet and Eric Sammut's classes.
His determination to bring together French eclectic percussion personalities drove him to foundthe Paris Percussion Group in 2014. He is the Artistic Director with Vassilena Serafimova and works with composers as Yan Maresz, Philippe Schoeller, Alexandros Markeas or even Yann Robin.
LUCID DUO
chamber music
composition
Lucid Duo´s outstanding musicianship and masterful technique on the instrument provide a captivating introduction to the dynamic and diverse world of marimba performance. As first prize winners of the Universal Marimba Competition 2011, held under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Paola of Belgium, Irena and Tomasz are renowned for their extraordinary sensitivity to sound. Lucid Duo's success has earned them the opportunity to showcase their talents at international festivals and lead masterclasses in various countries including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and Mexico.
Formed in 2011 in Belgium, after graduating from Europe's first Marimba Master Degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, the duo has been dedicated to bringing the instrument to new heights of development. As a renowned composer on the international marimba and percussion scene, Tomasz's compositions exemplify the instrument's versatility and range in the duo's repertoire, including marimba duo works and concertos.
In 2016, they were awarded the Start-Stipendium by the Federal Chancellery of Austria, given to exceptional artists, which led to completing their specialization with the Japanese legend Keiko Abe at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan.
The Vienna-based duo is both Yamaha and Innovative Percussion Artists USA and collaborate with the Armstrong Music and Arts Agency in Beijing.
Pascal
Schumacher
vibes
Pascal Schumacher is a multi awarded musician and composer. His main instrument is the vibraphone. He played with many of exciting musicians such Francesco Tristano, Bachar Mar-Khalifé, Sylvain Rifflet, Jef Neve, Maxime Delpierre, Kenny Barron, Edward Perraud, Magic Malik, Sebastian Studnitzky and Nils Frahm writes music for theater, dance and film. Today he mixes emotional classical music with minimal electronic sounds, although Schumacher himself considers each classification obsolete. To him, music is a single, limitless playground. When he‘s not making music himself, Pascal likes listening to Charles Mingus, Serge Gainsbourg, Sigur Ros, Nico Muhly, Brian Eno and J.S.Bach. Pascal released 14 albums under his name and is signed exclusively to ‘Neue Meister’ (from Berlin). He is a Yamaha Artist and Professor for Jazz at Conservatoire de Musique de Luxembourg.
Vladi
Petrov
drums
orchestra playing
Vladimir Petrov is percussionist in the famous Bruckner Orchestra in Linz / Austria. He was born in Pleven / Bulgaria in 1986 and began studying percussion at the age of nine with Simeon Serafimov. He has performed with many orchestras such as the Opera-Philharmonic Society Ruse, Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Wien, Bruckner Orchestra Linz and was solo timpanist of the Junior Philharmonic Orchestra “Emil Chakarov”.
He has resided in Linz, Upper Austria since 2006 to study at the Anton Bruckner Private University where he received percussion tuition from Prof. Leonhard Schmidinger as well as marimba tuition from Prof. Bogdan Bacanu.He has had the opportunity to perform with many orchestras and percussion ensembles. Vladimir Petrov's extensive touring has enabled him to play both as a marimba and percussion soloist in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Spain and the Netherlands.
In 2005 at the International Percussion Competition "Pendim" he was awarded with the "Best Marimba Performance" prize. As a member of the Wave Duo in 2007, Mr.Petrov received 1st Prize at the Universal Marimba Competition Belgium with his duo partner, Emiko Uchiyama. The duo was also awarded the Sabam Prize for the best interpretation of a set piece, the Keiko Abe Prize and the Audience Award.
In addition to his performance activities, Classic Concert Records published his marimba duo album “Tango” in 2008 and a quartet album “Aurora Borealis” in 2009. As a member of „The Wave“ quartet, he recorded “Concerto for two Harpsichords” by J.S. Bach conducted by Peter Sadlo with the Baroque Orchestra “Salzburg Barock”.
Vladimir Petrov is an endorser of the Dutch instrument manufacturer Adams.
Nikolay
Ivanov
chamber music
Nikolay Ivanov Graduated from the National School Of Arts “Panayot Pipkov” in 2014 in the percussion class of Simeon Serafimov where he had the opportunity to perform with ensemble “Accent” in Bulgaria and in Europe. After finishing his studies in Bulgaria he continued his education in the Maurice Ravel Conservatory in Paris in the class of Jean-Baptiste Leclère, Didier Vérité and Vassilena Serafimova and two years later he started his studies at the Conservatory Saint-Maur-de-Fossées in the class of Jean-Baptiste Leclerc and Michel Gastaud. Since September 2017 he has been studying at the Haute école de musique de Geneve - Switzerland, in the class of Philippe Spiesser, Francois Desforges, Christophe Delannoy and Claude Gastaldan where he acquired his bachelor and master degrees. Nikolay Ivanov won awards from various competitions, including: “Pendim” - Plovdiv; “Music And Earth” - Sofia; International Percussion Competition - Timisoara, Romania; International Competition For Interpretation Of German And Austrian Music MAGIC – Burgas, International Competition Young Virtuosos - Sofia and others. In 2018 he won the Second Prize and the Audience Award at the TROMP International Percussion Competition in Eindhoven, the Netherlands and in 2021 he won the First Prize at the IPEA percussion competition in Shanghai. As a soloist Nikolay has performed in Switzerland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Rome among others. He was also invited to perform at the PAS Festival in Beijing China and at the IPEA International Percussion CloudArt Festival in Shanghai. Nikolay is focusing mainly on contemporary music and working with composers on creating new repertoire for percussion. As well as being a soloist Nikolay is also working as an orchestra and ensemble musician. He often serves as a supplementary percussion for the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris and L’Orchestre Philarmonic de Radio France.
Vassilena
Serafimova
marimba
contemporary repertoire
Born into a family of musicians in 1985, Vassilena Serafimova is the first Bulgarian percussionist to be awarded the Second Prize of the 56th ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the First Prize of the Fifth World International Marimba Competition in Stuttgart. She won the Grand Prix of the 10th International Competition Music and Earth as a soloist as well as the First Prize as a member of the Percussion Ensemble Accent, founded by her parents Avgustina and Simeon Serafimov. She received the Young Musician of the Year Award in Bulgaria in 2008 as well as the First Prize of the Music Critics in the 18th International Festival of Central Europe in Slovakia.
In 2014, Vassilena made her debut in Carnegie Hall of New York. One year later, together with Thomas Enhco (piano), she was the first marimba player in history to perform at the French Awards Ceremony Victoires de la Musique. In 2016, the duo recorded their first album titled Funambules for Deutsche Grammophon.