Guenko Guechev, Bass-Baritone

GUENKO GUECHEV

Bass-Baritone

829 North Beatty Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15206
(412) 661-4162
g-bass@lycos.com

Guenko Guechev is a world-renowned Bulgarian Bass-Baritone. He has taken his natural aptitude for music and his gift of language-fluency and applied them with fervor to the specialty of 19th and early 20th century operatic interpretive vocal styles. He has appeared internationally in nearly 1000 opera performances.

Bulgarian Birth
& Education    Guenko Guechev was born on 14 May 1964 in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, originally founded as Augusta Trajana by the Romans, and now a metropolis known for its wealth of architectural and archeological relics. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from Hristina Morfova Music School in 1983. After obligatory military service, he was accepted to the prestigious State Conservatory of Music in Sofia.

   During the five-year period from 1985 to 1990, Mr. Guechev earned what would be considered a doctorate in the United States (denominated a Master of Arts Degree under the European system), the highest degree awarded by Bulgarian education. Graduates of this degree are afforded teaching rights and full credentials at all colleges and universities throughout Europe.

    In 1990, Mr. Guechev was graduated with distinction from the State Conservatory of Music in Sofia as student of Professor Resa Koleva.

Bulgarian Opera
Performances     Mr. Guechev instantaneously became known and sought after in Bulgaria. He has appeared with every major Bulgarian opera company including the Sofia National Opera, the Varna Opera, the Plovdiv Opera, and his hometown Stara Zagora National Opera. In Bulgaria, he performed in Carmen, Nabucco, Boris Godunov, Don Giovanni, Barbiere di Seviglia, Aleko, Macbeth, and I Puritani.

International
Master Classes     As part of the requirements of his advanced degree, Mr. Guechev attended and completed in 1990 a master class with Sergei Afanasiev in Moscow, and in 1993 undertook an intensive three-month master class with Boris Christoff in Rome. The focus of this study in Rome was the vocal technique and interpretation of the role of Boris in Boris Godunov.

European
Opera Performances     From 1993 to 1997, Guenko Guechev sang with the famous Compagnia d’Opera Italiana di Millano. The Company performed Il Trovatore, La Boheme, Tosca, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Madama Butterfly in Austria (at the Salzburg Festspielhaus), Germany (Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin), Switzerland, Greece, Belgium & the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland.

US Opera
Performances     Mr. Guechev’s US opera debut was Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto with the Pittsburgh Opera in March 1999. Since then, he has appeared as Admiral Lefort in Lortzing’s Tzar und Zimmerman with the Syracuse Opera in April 1999, both Commendatore as well as Mazetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Natchez Opera Festival in May 1999, and as Bonzo in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Opera Delaware in May 2000.

US Recitals &
International Oratorios     In November 1999, Mr. Guechev presented a recital of Russian music with his favorite arias and romances of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov in Pittsburgh’s St. Andrew Episcopal Church. He has also performed as a bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Brahm’s German Requiem with symphony orchestras in Bulgaria and Germany. He has just returned from Florida, where he performed Handel’s Messiah with the Symphony & Choral Society of Pensacola in their Christmas 2000 concert series.

Conductors &
Stage Directors     Mr. Guechev has performed with conductors Mathias Husman, David Blackburn, Steven Guadagno, Nicoletta Conti, Adam Medvedski, Bryan Garman, Doris Lang Kosloff, and Francis Graffeo, among others. He has had the opportunity to work with stage directors Stephanie Sandine, Wolfgang Weber, Martha Lantieri, Richard McKee, Tito Capobianco, and Stanley Garner.

Language Fluency    Mr. Guechev is remarkable in his complete proficiency in ten languages including English, Russian, and Italian, as well as Bulgarian and many of the Balkan and Danube Plain languages and dialects.

Teaching Experience     Associate Professor Guechev taught voice and vocal ensembles in the Hristina Morfova School of Music in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, from 1992 to 1996. His students successfully resumed their further education in the State Academy of Music and obtained their master’s degrees. His love of the Russian and Italian vocal styles in 19th and early 20th century opera and his partnership with many Italian singers on the stage allows Mr. Guechev to direct each student to uncover unique vocal abilities. In addition to classical and operatic techniques, Mr. Guechev also performs and teaches in the folk, jazz, and popular music styles.

Bulgarian Birth & Education	Guenko Guechev was born on 14 May 1964 in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, originally founded as Augusta Trajana by the Romans, and now a metropolis known for its wealth of architectural and archeological relics. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from Hristina Morfova Music School in 1983. After obligatory military service, he was accepted to the prestigious State Conservatory of Music in Sofia. During the five-year period from 1985 to 1990, Mr. Guechev earned what would be considered a doctorate in the United States (denominated a Master of Arts Degree under the European system), the highest degree awarded by Bulgarian education. Graduates of this degree are afforded teaching rights and full credentials at all colleges and universities throughout Europe. In 1990, Mr. Guechev was graduated with distinction from the State Conservatory of Music in Sofia as student of Professor Resa Koleva.
Bulgarian Opera Performances	Mr. Guechev instantaneously became known and sought after in Bulgaria. He has appeared with every major Bulgarian opera company including the Sofia National Opera, the Varna Opera, the Plovdiv Opera, and his hometown Stara Zagora National Opera. In Bulgaria, he performed in Carmen, Nabucco, Boris Godunov, Don Giovanni, Barbiere di Seviglia, Aleko, Macbeth, and I Puritani.
International Master Classes	As part of the requirements of his advanced degree, Mr. Guechev attended and completed in 1990 a master class with Sergei Afanasiev in Moscow, and in 1993 undertook an intensive three-month master class with Boris Christoff in Rome. The focus of this study in Rome was the vocal technique and interpretation of the role of Boris in Boris Godunov.
European Opera Performances	From 1993 to 1997, Guenko Guechev sang with the famous Compagnia d’Opera Italiana di Millano. The Company performed Il Trovatore, La Boheme, Tosca, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Madama Butterfly in Austria (at the Salzburg Festspielhaus), Germany (Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin), Switzerland, Greece, Belgium & the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland.
US Opera Performances	Mr. Guechev’s US opera debut was Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto with the Pittsburgh Opera in March 1999. Since then, he has appeared as Admiral Lefort in Lortzing’s Tzar und Zimmerman with the Syracuse Opera in April 1999, both Commendatore as well as Mazetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Natchez Opera Festival in May 1999, and as Bonzo in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Opera Delaware in May 2000.
US Recitals & International Oratorios	In November 1999, Mr. Guechev presented a recital of Russian music with his favorite arias and romances of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov in Pittsburgh’s St. Andrew Episcopal Church. He has also performed as a bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Brahm’s German Requiem with symphony orchestras in Bulgaria and Germany. He has just returned from Florida, where he performed Handel’s Messiah with the Symphony & Choral Society of Pensacola in their Christmas 2000 concert series.
Conductors & Stage Directors	Mr. Guechev has performed with conductors Mathias Husman, David Blackburn, Steven Guadagno, Nicoletta Conti, Adam Medvedski, Bryan Garman, Doris Lang Kosloff, and Francis Graffeo, among others. He has had the opportunity to work with stage directors Stephanie Sandine, Wolfgang Weber, Martha Lantieri, Richard McKee, Tito Capobianco, and Stanley Garner.
*Language Fluency*	Mr. Guechev is remarkable in his complete proficiency in ten languages including English, Russian, and Italian, as well as Bulgarian and many of the Balkan and Danube Plain languages and dialects.
*Teaching Experience*	Associate Professor Guechev taught voice and vocal ensembles in the Hristina Morfova School of Music in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, from 1992 to 1996. His students successfully resumed their further education in the State Academy of Music and obtained their master’s degrees. His love of the Russian and Italian vocal styles in 19th and early 20th century opera and his partnership with many Italian singers on the stage allows Mr. Guechev to direct each student to uncover unique vocal abilities. In addition to classical and operatic techniques, Mr. Guechev also performs and teaches in the folk, jazz, and popular music styles.