Moni Simeonov

Plovdiv gave Moni Simeonov his beginnings; California has had him since he arrived at the Idyllwild Arts Academy at fifteen on a full scholarship. He studied the violin with Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School, where he played a Stradivari of 1714, then with Ani Kavafian at Yale, taking an Artist Diploma, and with Midori at the University of Southern California, where he completed his doctorate. He has been concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic, has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and belongs to Ensemble San Francisco. Since 2014 he has directed string studies and taught violin at the Bob Cole Conservatory of California State University, Long Beach, and he holds the Edelman Chair of Chamber Music at the Colburn School in Los Angeles; his teaching also takes him to Interlochen and to summer festivals from Singapore to Hawaii. He returns to Bulgaria to play, and did so on 1 September 2023 in Plovdiv, appearing as soloist with the NUMTI orchestra in the concert that marked a hundred years since the birth of Dobrin Petkov, an evening he shared with Emma Tahmizian. His first teacher was Darina Dankova at the Dobrin Petkov school of music in Plovdiv, and at the University of Southern California he became Midori's assistant as well as her student. He took up the Sacramento post in 2009, and as concertmaster has worked under Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Krzysztof Penderecki and Helmuth Rilling. Carnegie Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kitara Hall in Sapporo, the Sejong Center in Seoul and Bulgaria Hall are among the halls he has played, and his recordings are held by KUSC in California, NHK in Japan and Bulgarian National Radio and Television.